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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: "You Have Won" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <01082009gep@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:05:24 +0800
Subject: 83QX-G175

PROMO ALERT FOR AUGUST 2009

GEP wishes to inform you of the results of the International Grand E-mail Ballot Promotion held in Bolton, Lancashire - United Kingdom on Saturday 15th August, 2009. Your email account have been picked as a winner of a lump sum payout. This is from total prize money of GBP 2,759,045.00 shared among the FIVE (5) international winners in this category.

Please contact your claims agent:

Mr Andrew Perkins.
Email: 01082009gep@gmail.com
+44 208 144 2429

Winning details:

RN: BGP/064-QX840FK27
BN: 83QX-G175
Amount Won: GBP 551,809.00

Anti-fraud resources: