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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: Yahoo prize award <Info@yahooglobal.co.uk>
Reply-To: williamsrowan@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 16:43:06 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

WINNING NOTIFICATION !!!
Congratulations: Lucky Winner!
We are pleased to inform you that you have won the sum
of £750,000 GBP-( SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING ) by YAHOO! MSN (Windows Live) Awards program.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM

Winners are paid in accordance with his/her settlement Center. Yahoo prize award must not be claimed later than 15 days from date of Draw Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited. Stated below are your identification numbers:

BATCH NUMBER YPA/07-43658
Reference number: 2007234522
PIN: 1206
To claim your prize money, please contact the fiduciary agent
PROF.Rowan Williams. via e-mail with the following information:

Full name:-----------------------------------------------
Sex:------------------------------------------------------
Age:------------------------------------------------------
Batch Number:------------------------------------
Ref.Number:-----------------------------
Contact Address:-------------------------------------
Occupation:-------------------------------------------
Nationality:--------------------------------------------
Mobile Number: --------------------------------------
Post Code-----------------------------------------------

NOTE !! YOU ARE TO REPLY TO THIS EMAIL ADDRESS
Email : williamsrowan@hotmail.com
contact number : +447017365615

Yours Sincerely,
MADAM ROSELYN JONES (PHD)
LOTTO CO-ORDINATOR.
Yahoo Global Lottery Award

Anti-fraud resources: