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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: "Teresa Connell" <teresa.connell@wallacestate.edu>
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:39:21 -0600
Subject: REF: LYC/UKB/3522 WINNING NOTIFICATION

LYCOS ONLINE LOTTERY
8th Floor,
1 Stephen Street,
London W1T 1AL, UK.

PIN NUMBER 21556770827633
WINNING NOTIFICATION
This is to inform you that you have been selected to receive the award sum of £500,000.00 (Five hundred Thousand pounds sterling) as charity donations/aid from the Lycos Online Lottery 2008. All beneficiaries email addresses were selected randomly from over 123,032 internet websites or a shop's cash invoice around your area in which you might have purchased something from through a computer ballot system.

You are advised to keep this notice confidential to avoid misappropriation of funds and unauthorized claims, cheating or fraud. Also keep your pin number from the reach of friends who already know about how funds are claimed from Lycos.

To claims your funds please contact our Claims Department at email claimsoffice1@lycos.co.uk with the requested information below.
Full names
Address
Phone number
Age
Sex
Marital status
Occupation

You are to forward all correspondence to our Claims Department(claimsoffice1@lycos.co.uk) for processing of funds release.

Congratulations from members and staff of Lycos Incorporated.

Announcer,
Teresa Connell,
Public Affairs & Protocols,
Lycos Online Lottery.

Anti-fraud resources: