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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Olympic Games 2012" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <olympic_games@rocketmail.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2012 23:44:42 +0200
Subject: VERY URGENT CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

""We are pleased to inform you that in the released results of Sweepstakes Promotion organized by London 2012 Olympic Games, in conjunction with the Foundation for the promotion of software products, held on. 27th July 2012, in London, England, Your Email address was selected as winner for the award of Two Million, Seventy Six thousand and Five Hundred and Thirty Eight Pounds (£2,076,538).


Please contact Mr. Paul Roland to claim your prize Email: olympic_games@rocketmail.com Phone number + 44 7031971369

Anti-fraud resources: