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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 AWARD" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ukpayment.officer@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 12:15:54 +0100
Subject: GOOGLE AWARD CENTER

Google 11th Anniversary Awards Center,
London W1U 4RY, United Kingdom.

We are pleased to inform you that your email address has won an Award in
The Google New Year Anniversary Awards as organized by Google Inc, held

on 23rd March 2011 here in London, United Kingdom. Google Inc.

Randomly selected 20 email addresses through a computer ballot system to
Receive an award of One Million Great British Pounds
(£1,000,000.00) each as a part of their for-profit philanthropic wing
(GOOGLE.ORG) Promotion Awards must be claimed by the email owner ONLY,
Not later than 3 weeks from the day of notification.

Award Reference code: GOOGLE898A2011
File number: G239

Send your complete personal information with your Award Ref. and File no
To us to enable us process your claim


Payment Officer: Dr.David Wright.
E-Mail: ukpayment.officer@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: