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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: "Canadian Lotto Inc" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <officegabbysmith@micro.lt>
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:38:49 +0100
Subject: Congratulations You Have Won £500,000.00

Notice: You should kindly direct your replies to the bellow email address of the claims agent, as any reply you send to the sender will not be given attention to.

Dear Lucky Winner,

We happily announce to you the result of the National Lotto 6/49 lottery draws held on March 2010, Lotto 6/49 in Essex United Kingdom and Ontario, Canada. All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through computer draws system and extracted from over 10,000.00 companies and personal e-mail addresses.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: B9564 7560 with serial number 046560 drew the winning numbers 6 7 14 16 17 27 Bonus 32. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of ?500,000.00 (FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING) in cash credited to file EAAL/9080118308/08.
To file for your claim, please contact our corresponding agent in London, United Kingdom immediately you read this message for quick and urgent release of your fund.

Contact information is as follow:
Mr. Gabby Smith.
Email: officegabbysmith@micro.lt
Tel: +4470359 27765

Here are the informations needed for you to fill out:

1.Full Name:
2.Full Address:
3.Marital Statue:
4.Occupation:
5.Age:
6.Sex:
7.Nationality:
8.Tel.Number:
9.Country Of Residence
***Due to possible mix up of some numbers and email contacts, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by some participants of this program.***
Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this promotional lottery program.

Yours Sincerely,
Miss Celine John.
**Customer Service**

Anti-fraud resources: