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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: "Mr. Eric E. Schmidt" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <promotionscenteruk@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2018 08:40:13 -0600
Subject: Dear Award Winner

Dear Award Winner
Award Reference code: GOOGLE568A2013
File number: G8744

This is to inform you that you have won an Award of (One Million Five Hundred Thousand Pounds) only £1,500,000.00 in the Google 13th Years Anniversary Awards as organized by the Anniversary Centre of Google Inc., held on 27th August 2018 in London, United Kingdom.

The Anniversary Center of Google Inc as a part of their profit philanthropic wing selected your email id as one of its 20 chosen fortunate winner to receive this award. Awards MUST be claimed by the email owner ONLY, not later than 30 days from the day of notification. Send your complete personal information like your names, age and complete contact address with your Award Ref. and File no. To us to enable us process your Prize; Please provide your details:

Full names,
Address,
Passport or ID Card
Direct phone number

NB: Do Not Reply If You Are Not The Owner Of This Email Address.
Warm Regards.

Mr. Eric E. Schmidt
Google’s Chief Executive Officer
E-mail: promotionscenteruk@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: