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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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "THE PEOPLES LOTTERY." <plinotification@mail.auis.net>
Reply-To: plifiduciary_will@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 08 Apr 2005 06:37:38 -0400
Subject: THE PEOPLES LOTTERY.

THE PEOPLES LOTTERY
Headquarters.
I.P.P Award Dept.
81,buhama ave,
London.
United Kingdom.



REF:PLI/491OXI/05
BATCH NO: 11/25/0305

WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We happily announce to you the draw of the PEOPLES LOTTERY Sweepstake
International programs held on the 4th of April,2005 in
Johannesburg,South Africa.

Your e-mail address attached to ticket number : 564-7566545288 with
Serial number 5233/09 drew the luckynumbers:19-6-26-17-35-7, which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of U.S $500,000.00
(Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in cash credited to file
ktu/9023118308/03.This is from a total cash prizeof U.S 5 Hundred
Thousand dollars, shared amongst the first nine (9) lucky winners in this
category.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through
computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 companies all over
the world.

This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements. Please
be warned.

This lottery is promoted and sponsored by software corporations and other
private organizations to help individuals generate fortunes which would
encourage them to expand their business frontiers and assist with
humanitarian concerns.

Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform us as soon
as possible. Congratulations from our organization and thank you for
being part of our promotional program.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:
MR WILLIAM NUNN.
Email:plifiduciary_will@yahoo.com

To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your
reference/batch numbers in any correspondences with us or our designated
agent.

Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program.
Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program.

N.B: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified from this
program.

Sincerely,
SIR JAMES WILTORD.
THE PEOPLES LOTTERY Co-ordinator .

Anti-fraud resources: