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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: "london visa" <ukembassy@londonvisa.org>
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 11:55:36 +0000
Subject: Congratulation You Have Win

WORLD UK LOTTERY
INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY ORGANISATIONS.
OFFICE: 8-10, FREE TOWN AVE,
PLOT: 328 LONDON UK.
REF NUMBER: OSL/653/029/03:
BATCH NUMBER: AT-040-SB06-03
CONGRATULATIONS!!!

DEAR WINNER,

WE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU, THAT AS A RESULT OF OUR RECENT LOTTERY
DRAWS
HELD ON 5TH JUNE. 2005.YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS ATTACHED TO TICKET NUMBER
27522465896-532 WITH SERIAL NUMBER 652-662 DREW LUCKY NUMBERS
7-14-18-23-31-45, WHICH CONSEQUENTLY WON 2ND CATEGORY.YOU HAVE THEREFORE
BEEN APPROVED FOR A LUMP SUM PAY OF US2, 500,000.00 (TWO MILLION FIVE
HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY)

NOTE: 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 WEB
SITES.


THIS PROMOTIONAL PROGRAM TAKES PLACE EVERY YEAR, AND IS PROMOTED AND
SPONSORED BY EMINENT PERSONALITIES LIKE THE SULTAN OF BRUNEI, BILL
GATE OF MICROSOFT INC, MULTI CHOICE AND OTHER CORPERATE ORGANISATIONS. THIS
IS TO ENCOURAGE THE USE OF THE INTERNET AND COMPUTERS WORLDWIDE.
FOR SECURITY PURPOSE AND CLARITY, WE ADVISE THAT YOU KEEP YOUR WINNING
INFORMATIONS 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 PROGRAME BY SOME PARTICITANTS.

ALL WINNING MUST BE CLAIMED NOT LATER THAN ONE MONTH AFTER THE DATE OF
THIS NOTICE. PLEASE NOTE, IN ORDER TO AVOID UNNECESSARY DELAY AND
COMPLICATIONS REMEMBER TO QUOTE YOUR REFERENCE NUMBERS AND BATCH NUMBERS IN
ALL CORRESPONDENCES.

NOTE: YOU HAVE TO MAIL ME WITH MY OFFICE EMAIL (uklottoagent@latinmail.com)

SINCERELY YOURS.


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