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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: vir.atlantic@cheapnet.it
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2005 18:39:58 +0100
Subject:

CONGRATULATION LUCKY WINNER
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
User-Agent: Internet Messaging Program (IMP) 3.2
X-Originating-IP: 213.31.42.35

FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER

VIRGIN ATLANTIC PROMOTION UK
INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY
13-17 Broomhill Road
London, SW32 7JQ
United Kingdom.

REF NUMBER: 9211-285-167
BATCH NO: V-A-PUK/0043/SHI

ATTENTION: SIR/MADAM

RE: AWARD NOTIFICATION: FINAL NOTICE 2RD CATEGORY PROMOTIONAL DRAWN RESULT

We are pleased to inform you of the announcement of 24th November 2005,of
winners of the VIRGIN ATLANTIC PROMOTION UK held on the 14th November, 2005 as
part of our yearly bonanza. You/Your company's email address,
attached to ticket number 4278-8845-284, with serial number 211-358 drew the
lucky numbers 56-39-99-20, and consequently won the lottery in 2nd category. You
have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay of
2,000,000.00 GB Pounds(Two Million GB Pounds)

All participants were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from
125,000 emails from Middle East, Asia, Africa, Canada,Europe and North America
and Oceania as part our International Promotions Program, which is conducted
annually.

CONGRATULATIONS!

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 claiming
and unwarranted abuse of this program by some
participants.

You are required to Contact immediately the Claims Official, below for the
immediate processing and collection of your winning claim with your Full
Name,Telephone and Email. Please quote your Reference number and Batch Number in
all correspondence.

CLAIMS AGENT
Mr. Rchard Lewis
Email: richard_lewis@mail.zp.ua
Tex: +447040115763
Tel/Fax: +447040112501

Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our
promotions program.

Sincerely,

Mr. Roy Damfort

The Promotions Manager,
INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY
VIRGIN ATLANTIC PROMOTION UK

N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to
disqualification.Please do not reply to this mail. Contact your claims agent.




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