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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: CHRIS COLINS <wier@gmail.com>
Reply-To: colins.chrweir@mail.com
Date: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 00:04:57 -0700
Subject: LUCKY


Congratulations,
My wife and I won One hundred and sixty one million six hundred and fifty=
three thousand pounds (=A3161,653,000 GBP) EuroMillions jackpot and have v=
oluntarily decided to donate the sum of =A32,500,000 GBP to you as part of =
our International Charity Program aimed at supporting individuals, groups a=
nd charities. Your email address was among the email address submitted by G=
oogle INC as a web user. On receipt of this email, count yourself as one of=
the lucky individuals. Kindly get back to us with the below details so tha=
t we can send your details to the pay-out bank. =

Full Name: Age:
Country:
Phone Number: =

Visit the web page for further verification: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne=
ws/article-2232293/Lottery-winners-Chris-Colin-Weir-donate-30-000-operation=
-help-year-old-Skye-Swinton-walk-reading-mothers-heartfelt-plea.html =

Regards, =

Colin and Chris Weir

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