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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: <freelott@freelotto.com>
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 16:52:27 -0000
Subject: Award Payment

MR. ANDREW GRANT.
FREE LOTTO PROMOTIONS
REF NUMBER: SLI/421/960/05
BATCH NUMBER: ST-688-SN13-05

Dear Winner,

We are pleased to inform you that as a result of our recent lottery draw
held on the 24th of October 2005. Your e-mail address attached to ticket
number 27522465896-532 with serial number 652-662 drew lucky numbers
05-09-17-24-26-38, which consequently won in the 2nd category. You have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of €1,500,000.00 (One
Million, Five Hundred Thousand 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 US$50
Million slot.

You are requested to contact our Lottery coordinator strictly by the email
below: freecoord@netscape.net. This is to assist you with your winnings
and subsequent payments immediately. 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
OR SEEN TO DOUBLE CLAIM THROUGH ANY OTHER COORDINATOR.
Sincerely yours


MR. ANDREW GRANT
(LOTTERY COORDINATOR)
freecoord@netscape.net

Anti-fraud resources: