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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: "UK NATIONAL LOTTERY" <bill@sierrawestlighting.com>
Reply-To: dowardgeorge@live.com
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:43:40 +0000
Subject: Attention: UK NATIONAL LOTTERY WINNER!!!


THE UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
REF.NO:UK/9420X2/68/305
BATCH.NO.2008-2GBP-020
CATEGORY:3RD
LUCKY NO:12-26-34-39-40-45 [19] Bonus Ball
AMOUNT WON: £2,000,000.00 British Pounds Sterling.
ATTENTION: DEAR WINNER,
AWARD NOTIFICATION FINAL NOTICE.
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement of winners of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,UNITED KINGDOM.(sweepstakes/award promotion)Your email address,is attached to ticket number 20511465463-7644,with serial number S/N-00168 drew the lucky numbers
12-26-34-39-40-45 [19] Bonus Ball,and consequently won the lottery in the
3rd category.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of £2,000,000.00 British Pounds Sterling in cash credited to file REF No:UKNL-L/200-26937.
This is from total prize money of £40,000,000.00 British Pounds Sterling shared among the twenty international winners in this category. All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from a collation of frequent internet users from all over the world from Australia, New Zealand,America,Europe, North America, Africa and Asia as part of International Promotions Program.
CONGRATULATIONS.
Your fund is now deposited with a Bank.Due to the mix up of some numbers and names,we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to you.This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this program. We hope that with a part of your prize,you will participate in next year high stakes of the £80million
International E-mail Lottery
To begin your claim, Contact your claim agent;
MR. GEORGE DOWARD,
Email: dowardgeorge@live.com
Tel:+447045767044
FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER / CLAIM OFFICER,
UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
COVENTRY, UNITED KINGDOM,
we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted
to your account.
NOTE:That claiming of your funds must be completed before deadline(30th November 2008) , further delay might attract additional expenses in the
processing of your claims.
Furthermore In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in every one of your correspondences with your agent.
Finally, Original copy of your prize winning certificate will be sent to you after claim declaration.Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.
Please do provide the following information's (Claim Verification form)fill and submit back via EMAIL to (dowardgeorge@live.com ) to your claim agent ,

1,YOUR FULL NAME:.............
2,YOUR SEX:..................
3,YOUR ADDRESS:.................
4,YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER:.........
5,YOUR FAX NUMBER:...............
6,YOUR OCCUPATION:...............
7,YOUR COMPANY'S NAME:...........
8,YOUR AGE:.......................
9,YOUR REF:..........
10,COUNTRY........................
11,E-MAIL.........................

INDICATE PREFERRED MODE OF PRIZE COLLECTION:
(A)ON-LINE WIRE TRANSFER to your designated Bank account.
(B) CERTIFIED BANK CHEQUE.

Congratulations from the staff and thank you for being part
of email account users program.

Yours Sincerely,

MRS. KIMBERLY BERRY,
VICE PRESIDENT
N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result
to disqualification.


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