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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "INTERNATIONAL BUREAU" <upperrock.gtb@gibtelecom.net>
Reply-To: officeofinquiry@aim.com
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:43:59 +0200
Subject: [URGENT]: Amazing! Call Immediately


LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
PRIZE/PROMOTION AWARD DEPT.
Ref Number: PW 9590 ES 9414
Batch Number: 573881545-NL/2007
Ticket Number:PP 3502 /8707-01
Winning Amount: $2,500,000.00.

The online cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive
list of 25,000,000 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate
bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search
from the internet.

No tickets were sold.

After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address
emerged as a winner in the category "A" To file in for the
processing of your prize winnings, you are advised to contact
our Certified and Accredited claims agent for category "A"
winners with the information below:
*************************************
Claims Agent.
Name: Ralph Germain
Phone: +31 647 283 937
Email: officeofinquiry@aim.com
Email: notice_inquiry@yahoo.de
*************************************
You are advised to provide him with the following information:

Names:
Telephone/Fax number:
Nationality:
Occupation:
Age:

Congratulations on your Winning Prize and we look forward to
completing your payout soon.

Yours Faithfully,

Mary Jones
Lottery Coordinator.

***This email may contain information which is confidential
and/or privileged. The information is intended solely for the
use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the
intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying,
distribution or use of the contents is prohibited. If you have
received this electronic
transmission in error, please notify the sender by telephone or
return email and delete the material from your computer***



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