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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: "Parker" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <morganlot40@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:57:51 +0200
Subject: Contact Morgan Smith and Claim your Prize!

The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool , L70 1NL UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref: SGIL/763276/03
Batch: 074/05/ZY3 .
 
Dear lucky winner,
 
We happily announce to you the draw of the UK-National Lottery International programs held last week..
Your e-mail address linked to your profile attached to ticket number: 56475600545 187, with Serial number 87-11 drew the lucky numbers: 12,37,39,40,50,01 Bonus 02. Which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of GBP 1,000,000.00{ONE MILLION BRITISH POUNDS} in cash credited to file REF NO.SGIL/763276/03.
This is from a total cash prize of GBR £16,000,000(SIXTEEN MILLION BRITISH POUNDS STERLING) shared amongst the first sixteen (16) lucky winners in this category. All participants were selected randomly from Worldwide Web site through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 companies. . Please note that your lucky winning number fall within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this,Your funds would be configured/loaded into a bank card and sent to your address so you can be able to draw the prize from any bank payment outlet in your country . To begin your claims therefore, you are advised to contact our licensed and accredited claim agent for Overseas Lottery Winners as stated below
 
Contact thus: CONTACT OUR CLAIMS MANAGER,
NAME: MORGAN SMITH
Tel: +44-703-174-7346
 
Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program.
 
Sincerely,
 
 
STELLA OWEN (MS)
LOTTERY CO-ORDINATOR

Anti-fraud resources: