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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.

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

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:24:34 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION !!! MICROSOFT WINNER

MICROSOFT AWARD
==============================
Your email address as indicated was drawn and attached to ticket number 008795727498 with serial numbers BTD/9080648302/06 and drew the lucky, numbers 14-21-25-39-40-47(20) which subsequently won you �500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds) as one of the 10 jackpot winners in this draw. You have therefore won the entire winning sum of 500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds).

To file for your claim Please Contact your fiduciary agent.

Mr. Mark Jones
Email: claims_markjoness1@hotmail.com
Tel: + 44 704 574 7152

Thank you for being part of this promotional award program. Our special thanks and gratitude to Bill Gates and his associates. We wish you the best of luck as you spend your good fortune. Thank you for being part of our commemorative year Anniversary Draws.

Sincerely,
Dr. Steve Jordan
Microsoft Promotion Team

Anti-fraud resources: