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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: Sat, 8 Nov 2008 07:13:45 -0500
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION US$2,500,000.00

INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPT
WINNING NOTIFICATION FOR CATEGORY "A" WINNER ONLY

Dear Winner,
We are pleased to inform you of the final announcement of the result in a
Lottery International Programs.

Your email address was selected by our Electronic Random Selection System
(ERSS) from an exclusive list of e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies. No tickets were sold.
This email address is identified with Your Ref number: NL 80 OS 9414, Batch Number:444821545-NL/2008,
Ticket Number: PP 3812 /2008-03 in Category "A" and you are a winner to the Prize amount of US$2,500,000.00.
(Two Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) from the total payout

Cogratulation:

To file for Your Claims Please contact
*************************************
Name : Mr. Robert William
Phone: +31 645 449 390
Email: claimsagent_6444@yahoo.cn
*************************************
You are advice to provide him with your following information as stated below:
Names:
Telephone/Fax number:
Nationality:
Age:
Occupation:

NOTE:1. All winnings must be claimed not later than 14 days,
2. Your funds are protected by hard cover insurance policy until it is remitted to your account in your country.
Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for being part of our promotional program.

Yours Faithfully,
Martin Prak
Lottery Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources: