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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: dutchunionnl@tiscali.co.uk
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 03:57:30 -0700
Subject: DUTCH UNION INTERNATIONAL

DUTCH UNION INTERNATIONAL
FROM MR. STEVE BROWN.
(LOTTERY COORDINATOR)

Dear Sir/Madam,


We are pleased to inform you that as a result of our recent lottery
draws
held on the 29 th of Augset 2005. Your
e-mail address attached to ticket number 27522465896-532 with serial
number
652-662 drew lucky numbers
7-14-18-23-31-45,which consequently won in the 2nd category. You have
therefore
been approved for a lump sum
pay out of 1,000,000 (Euros)(One Million Euros only) Note that all
participants
in this lottery program have been
selected randomly through a computer ballot system drawn from over
20,000
companies and 30,000,000 individual email addresses from all search
engines
and websites.

This promotional program takes place every year, and is promoted and
sponsored
by eminent personalities like the
Sultan of Brunei,Bill Gates of Microsoft Inc and other corporate
organizations.This
is to encourage the use of
the Internet and computers worldwide.

For security purpose and clarity, we advise that you keep your winning
information
confidential until your claims
have been processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our
security
protocol to avoid double claims
and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants. We look
forward
to your active participation
in our next year USD50 million slot.

You are requested to contact our Lottery coordinator below to assist
you
with your winnings and subsequent payments. All winnings must be
claimed
not later than one month after the date of this notice. Please note,in
order
to
avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember to quote your
reference
number and batch numbers in all
correspondence.

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

NOTE: YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED IF YOU ARE BELOW
18 YEARS OF AGE.

Sincerely yours,

MR. STEVE BROWN.
LOTTERY COORDINATOR)
EMMAL; dutchunionnl@netscape.net



___________________________________________________________

Book yourself something to look forward to in 2005.
Cheap flights - http://www.tiscali.co.uk/travel/flights/
Bargain holidays - http://www.tiscali.co.uk/travel/holidays/


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