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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: "GOOGLE.COM" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <google.inc11@live.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:04:15 +0800
Subject: Winning No: GUK/877/798/2009

Stamford New Road,
Altrincham Cheshire,
WA14 1EP
London,
United Kingdom.

Winning No: GUK/877/798/2009
Ticket No: GUK/699/33/2009
Notification Date: 8/01/2010
GOOGLE ANNIVERSARY WINNING NOTIFICATION
We wish to congratulate you once again on this note, for being part of our winners selected this year. This
promotion was set-up to encourage the active users of the Google search engine
and the Google ancillary services.
Hence we do believe with your winning prize, you will continue to be active and patronage to the Google search
engine. Google is now the biggest search engine worldwide and in an effort to
make sure that it remains the most widely used search engine, we ran an online e-mail beta test which your email
address won ?50,000.00 {Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand Great British
Pounds Sterling} We wish to formally announce to you that you have successfully passed the requirements,
statutory obligations, verifications, validations and satisfactory report Test conducted for all online winners.
A winning cheque will be issued in your name by Google Promotion Award Team, You have therefore won the
entire sum of ?50,000.00 {Nine Hundred And Fifty Thousand Great British
Pounds Sterling} and also a certificate of prize claims will be sent along side your winning cheque.
Sir Richard Scholes
Foreign Transfer Manager
Google Promotion Award Team
Email: google.inc12@live.com
Tel: +44 (0) 7024065650
Fax: +44 (0) 7024065650
You are advised to contact your Foreign Transfer Manager with the following details to avoid unnecessary delay
and complications:
VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM.
(1) Your contact address.
(2) Your Tel/Fax numbers.
(3) Your Nationality/Country.
(4) Your Full Name.
(5) Occupation/Company.
(6) Age/Gender.
(7) Ever won an online lottery?
The Google Promotion Award Team has discovered a huge number of double claims due to winners informing close
friends relatives and third parties about their winning and also sharing their
pin numbers. As a result of this, these friends try to claim the lottery on behalf of the real winners. The Google
Promotion Award Team has reached a decision from headquarters that any
double claim discovered by the Lottery Board will result to the canceling of that particular winning, making a loss
for both the double claimer and the real winner, as it is taken that the real
winner was the informer to the double claimer about the lottery. So you are hereby strongly advised once more to
keep your winnings strictly confidential until you claim your prize.
Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of the Google interactive Lotteries Board Commission.
Sincerely,
Dr. Alexander Lloyd
Google Promotion Award Team

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