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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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Fraud email example:

From: "Jennifer Carlton" <notification@merseyukgames.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 02:55:03 +0000
Subject: Winning Notification Mail

The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
WINNING NOTIFICATION:
We happily announce to you the draw (#960) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,
online Sweepstakes International program held on Saturday 5th of March ,
2005. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with
Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:06-19-24-26-27-49(bonus no.08),
which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 5 plus
bonus.You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £67,728
(Sixty seven thousand, seven hundred and tweenty eight pounds sterling) in
cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.This is
from a total cash prize of £1,625,472 shared amongst the (24) lucky
winners in this category i.e Match 5 plus bonus.All participants for the
online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through
computer draw system and extracted from over
100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed
online. This promotion takes place weekly.
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European
booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In
view of this, your £67,728 (Sixty seven thousand, seven hundred and tweenty
eight pounds sterling) would be released to you by any of our payment
offices in Europe.
Our European agent will immediately commence the process to
facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.
For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning
information confidential till your claims is processed and your money
remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is
part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted
abuse of this program. Please be warned.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary
agent:
Mrs. Jennifer Carlton

Email: notification@merseyworldgames.com

You can go to our online result site to confirm the
value of your winnings and also get a prize breakdown:-
www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/p/results/results.do
Goodluck from me and members of staff of the UK
NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Richard K. Lloyd.
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.
Phone :+44-7031941427
Fax :08715043339
Copyright © 1994-2005 CastleInternational/The UK National Lottery Inc.
All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guidelines


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