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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: "Online Claims" <prize.claims@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 00:27:59 +0200
Subject: YOUR PRIZE WINNING CERTIFICATE


DUE TO THE FACT YOU WERE ON VACATION YOU SUBMITTED YOUR CLAIMS ONE MONTH
LATE THEREBY DEFAULTING OUR STIPULATED EIGHT WORKING DAYS TIME FRAME,
NONETHELESS WE STILL ALLOWED YOU TO GO ON WITH YOUR CLAIMS. BE WARNED THAT
FURTHER DELAYS MAY NOT BE TO YOUR FAVOR. FIND ATTACHED YOUR AWARD WINNING
CERTIFICATE. AS SOON AS THE ACCREDITED ATTORNEY PRESENTS TO US THE VITAL
CLEARANCE DOCUMENTATIONS ON YOUR BEHALF, WE WILL THEN TRANSFER YOUR CASH
PRIZE TO YOUR NOMINATED ACCOUNT.

BEST REGARDS

MATAYAS CANA

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