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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: "Mrs. Stella M Steffen." <noreply@meet.com>
Reply-To: williamswayne280@yahoo.ca
Date: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 17:52:22 -0400
Subject: Dear Lucky Winner,...Congratulations!

Dear Lucky Winner,

We happily announce to you the Draw (Batch #22) of BMW Online Lottery ® held on the 19 April, 2013.Your E-mail Address attached to the Ticket Number: 43566, was picked at random from our computer system. You have won a brand new 2013 Model BMW 7 Series Car and a LUMP SUM OF $ 500,000.00 (FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS)

For more information on how to claim your prize, do contact our promotions department via the email below or via telephones, and quote this FILE NO: A87/902/ EH3/ 118/ 308/032, TAG NO:098486 and Ref No: 87276/18-0 as this reference serve as the security key to your winnings, we advice that you keep the reference number to yourself.

PROMOTION DEPARTMENT.

Name: Mr. Wayne Williams
Email: williamswayne280@yahoo.ca

NB: If you are unable to come to our Branch office in United States of America to claim your won prize, your won prize will be send to your door step through courier servive.

Congratulations!

Yours Faithfully,

Mrs. Stella M Steffen.
Online Coordinator
BMW Lottery Promo

Anti-fraud resources: