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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/ MSN-AWARD PROMO"<unitednation_usaregion@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <johnsoncole05@excite.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:58:08 +0300
Subject: DEAR LUCKY WINNER

YAHOO AWARD & MSN WINDOW LIVE PROMOTION CENTER
125 Shaftesbury Avenue London WC2H 8AD United Kingdom
 
Dear Winner
 
This is to inform you that you have won prize money of One million five hundred thousand Great Britain Pounds, (£1,500,000.00) 2013 Prize Promotion which was organized by YAHOO AWARDS & MSN WINDOWS LIVE. YAHOO collects all the email addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail and few from other E-mail Providers. Five people are selected this month to benefit from this promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners.
 
                                   PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM
Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Centre. Yahoo & MSN WINDOWS LIVE Prize Award must be claimed no later than 93 days from date of Draw Notification. Any Prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited.
Stated below are your identification numbers:
BATCH NUMBER:           MFI/06/APA-43658      
REFERENCE NUMBER:   2008234522
PIN:         1206
WINNING  NUMBER:...              
These numbers fall within the London-UK Location file, you are requested to contact our fiduciary agent in Manchester and send your winning identification numbers to him.
Agent Name:                    Johnson Cole.
Tel:                          (44) 7937043713
E-mail :                      johnsoncole@popmail.com.br
Address:                      70, Dulwich Village, London, SE21 7AJ
 
You are advised to send the following informations to your agent to facilitate the release of your winning fund to you.
1. Full Names.............................
2. Country.................................
3. Contact Address.....................
4. Telephone Number.................
5. Fax Number............................
5. Marital Status.........................
6. Occupation.............................
7.  My Date of birth......................
7. Sex .................................
8. Id Card.
 
Congratulations!! Once again.
 
Yours in service,
                  
 
     
Dr. Babs Coker
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING!!
 
Do not tell people about your Prize Award until your money is successfully handed over to you to avoid disqualification that may arise from double claim.
You may also receive similar e-mails from people portraying to be other Organizations or Yahoo Inc. This is solely to collect your personal information from you and lay claim over your winning. In event that you receive any e-mail similar to the notification letter that was sent to you, kindly delete it from your mail box and give no further correspondence to such person or body. Yahoo shall not be held responsible for any loss of fund arising from the above mentioned
                                   
 
 

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