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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: "Internal Revenue Services" <webmaster@solarus.net>
Reply-To: <claims@win.ukmegamillionsdc.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:07:46 -0800
Subject: Alert...Don't Ignore This*.

Congratulations on your $2,010,872 lottery prize. we have authenticated it to be legitimate and give you the permission to go ahead and claim it.

This message has been validated by the Internal Revenue Service to prevent you from consumer fraud.

Security: If this email goes to any folder other than your inbox, move it to your inbox and you should be able to access the link.

Click Here Now For Instructions To Claim Your $2,010,872

NOTICE: This e-mail correspondence is NOT subject to Public Records Law and may not be disclosed to third parties.

Anti-fraud resources: