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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.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "uk lottery" <uk_lottery131@msn.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:12:04 +0000
Subject: UK NATIONL LOTTERY

The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Tel: ++44 703 187 1038
Fax: ++44 709 287 1711
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
                                                                        
WINNING NOTIFICATION:
We happily announce to you the draw (#476 ) of the UK NATIONAL
LOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program
held on Monday 16th January,2006. Your e-mail address attached
to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial
number 5368/02 drew the lucky number   which subsequently won you the
lottery in the 2nd category.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £1,000,000.00 (One Million Pounds sterlings) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.
This is from a total cash prize of £5,000,000 shared amongst the first five (5) lucky winners in this category
All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system
and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place weekly.
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated
in your play coupon. In  view of this, your £1,000,000.00 (One Million Pounds sterlings) would be releasedto you by any of our payment offices in Europe.
Our European agent will immediately commence theprocess to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact her.
For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential your claim is processed and your money
remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid
double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.
Please be warned.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent in the
Netherland:MRS. JENNIFER MAXWELL
Tel:+31 616 022 565
Email:info_fiduciaryagent@walla.com
Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact
him. You may wish to establish contact via e-mail with the particulars presented above citing the batch and reference numbers to this letter.
Our winners are assured of the utmost standards of confidentiality, and press anonymity until the end of proceedings, andbeyond where they so desire. Be further advised to maintain the strictest level of confidentiality until the end of proceedings to circumvent problems associated with fraudulent claims. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.
Goodluck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Richard.
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.
Copyright © 1994-2006 The UK National Lottery Inc.
All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guidelines

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