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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: "Facebook"<lottery@fbmail.com>
Reply-To: <fb.team090@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:27:40 -0700
Subject: Facebook Lottery: You are a winner

Facebook <
facebook
Hi Facebook User,
This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of Five Hundred and Ninety-Nine Thousand, One Hundred Fifty-Five Dollars and Six Cents {$599,155.06 USD} on the on going Facebook Lottery Jackpot 2011 which is sponsored and organized by Microsoft and Facebook Officials.

Due to the fact that countless number of individuals share same name, you are required to furnish us with the below information

Full Name:
Social Security Number:
Date of Birth:
State:

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.

Thanks,
The Facebook Team
Furnish us with requested relevant information
Contact Us
Didn't sign up for Facebook? Please Please let us know. If you don't want to receive these emails from Facebook in the future or have your email address used for friend suggestions, you can unsubscribe. Facebook, Inc. P.O. Box 10005, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Anti-fraud resources: