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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: "Rev. Benson Williams" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <wbenson2010@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 19:46:53 -0700
Subject: From British American Tobacco Companies


Attention: Email Owner,

Are you the owner of this email address or do you have authorized access
to it in the absence of the owner? If yes then have every reason to
rejoice as the result of the lottery draw held to promote South African
2010 World Cup, free ticket and online e-mail address draws has just been
released and guess what?

Your email is among the two lucky winners, that won ($4.5Million United
States Dollars) Each in the just concluded draw held to promote South
African 2010 World Cup, sponsored by British American Tobacco Companies
South Africa.
For Prize Claiming, Contact our payment center.

Name: Rev Benson Williams
Email: wbenson2010@gmail.com
And also provide the following information for the processing of your
winning fund.

NAME:................................
ADDRESS:..............................
NATIONALITY:.........................
SEX:..................................
AGE:.................................
FAX:.................................
OCCUPATION:...........................
COMPANY:..............................
TELE PHONE NUMBER.........................................

Your Email Attached to Ticket No: (7YZ2010) and Ballot No: (BT120/B)
Winners must send His or Her Names,Address,Telephone Number and Means of
Identification (International Passport or Drivers License) to claim
officer, via email to process the Immediate payment of your prize.


Congratulations once again.
>From British American Tobacco Companies
South Africa.


Anti-fraud resources: