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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: "Blackberry Promotion" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mikepaul158@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2015 00:31:04 +0100
Subject: Dear Lucky Winner

 
Blackberry International Lottery Promotion
LAGOS NIGERIA
TEL +2348108849328
Dear Lucky Winner,
                            
This is to inform you that  Blackberry has Awarded you $650,000.00 USD in 2013 Anniversary draw, Your PIN Number to claim your Award is (7561 Blackberry)  fill the form below Blackberry Company, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo, Aol, Walla, Gmail, Russian Mail and Hotmail and few from other e-mail providers. 35 people are selected through electronic ballot draw which was organized by ASia Blackberry International yearly to benefit from this promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners.
These are your identification numbers:
Ticket Number: 01145589/2012
Serial Number: 2972/506
Lucky Number: 7/4/78/38/01/40
1. Full Name:...........................
2. Full Address:.........................
3. Occupation:........................
4. Country:...................
5. Mobile Number:.....................
6. Winning Email.........................
FORWAED YOUR DETAILS TO THIS EMAIL  affinfastt@fastservice.com
Best Regards
Mr. Paul. Mike
 

Anti-fraud resources: