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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: "MERCEDES BENZ INTERNATIONAL©" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <james.bottrall@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2015 20:46:36 -0700
Subject: FROM: MERCEDES BENZ INTERNATIONAL©

FROM: MERCEDES BENZ INTERNATIONAL
3, MERCEDES DRIVE,
MONTVALE, NJ 07645 USA.
(WE ENCOURAGE GLOBALIZATION)
 
 
 
Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice, this year results of the MERCEDES BENZ COMPANY 2015 email draws, we know that some of you out there are die-hard lovers of Mercedes Benz, this promotional draws was held to thank all our active and non-active online customers, you may not have Voluntarily entered for this draws, but all participants were selected through a computer random ballot system drawn from email addresses and facebook accounts of individuals and companies from all over the world.
 
The draws were held on Tuesday 24th of March 2015 and results are being officially announced today by our Coordinators. Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number 9873445672, with serial number 5359566 drew the lucky winning numbers 34072835-456 and consequently made you a winner in this year draws.
 
You have therefore won a lump sum of 2,000.000.00 Dollars (Two Million United State Dollars Only), which is the winning payout for Category A winners for this year.
 
Congratulations Once Again!! Your prize money will be paid to you by our paying Bank near you through a secured and legitimate means.We understand they are lots of Scam and fraudulent activates, so we advise you in your best interest, to avoid mix up or controversially misplacement of any kind, we request that you keep the entire details of your prize strictly to yourself until the process of transferring your prize money to you has been completed, This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or any scrupulous acts.
 
To ascertain the legitimacy and authenticity of your winning, contact the financial secretary Mr. James Bottrall on is personal email: james.bottrall@gmail.com while contacting the financial secretary send the below
 
Your names:
Contact Address:
Direct Telephone Number:
Date of birth:
Gender:
Occupation:
Nationality:
You’re winning Number:
Quote amount won:
 
Despite this favorable Prize, We are determined to have zero tolerance for any breach of the code of ethics and our winner his assured of privacy
 
Sincerely Yours.
Mr. Harald Henn
Press Officer Mercedes Benz.
 
Copyright © 2015 MercedesBenz Inc

Anti-fraud resources: