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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: "POWER BALL LOTTERY" <powerballlo2020@gmail.com>
Reply-To: powerballl2020@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2020 15:36:55 -0800
Subject: Powerball National Lottery!!


Powerball HeadQuarters Usa Customer Service Marriott main street Tallahass=
ee 32301 FILE REF:17LL12-2020/MICS BATCH:MC11/834/5PDH /EU2020 Powerball Wi=
nning Numbers History-Video Results Dear Honorable Beneficiary POWER BA=
LL LOTTERY/ Microsoft Corporations Announced you as one of the 7 lucky winn=
ers of the Ongoing Microsoft Corporations lottery Award of the Year Held th=
is month.All 7 winning email addresses were Randomly selected from a batch =
of 800,000,000 International emails each from Canada, Australia, United Sta=
tes, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as Part of our internati=
onal promotions program which is Conducted annually, consequently, you have=
Been Approved for a total pay out of EIGHT Million TWO HUNDRED United Stat=
es Dollars ($8.2 MILLION USD). The draft was deposited to the bank waiting =
when you will Come for it so that the money can be transfer to you via Wire=
transfer, therefore, you are to fill this gap And send it To me so I will =
submit it to the bank for transfer. Your full Name Your Address Home/Cell=
Phone Your Occupation Your Identity Country Zip code You are advise to s=
end the above information today to enable me submit them To the bank This L=
ottery was promoted and sponsored by a Conglomerate of some multinational c=
ompanies as part of Their social responsibility to the citizens in the Comm=
unities where they have operational base.Further More your details (e-mail =
address) falls within our Branch Office here in USA, as indicated in your p=
lay Coupon and Your prize of (USD$8.2M). will be released to you from This =
main branch office of Microsoft Corporations USA.We wish to informed you th=
at your Fund has been Approved and insured in your name as well as ready fo=
r Delivery. These are your winning identification numbers. Ticket number=
=2026679-568-9228 Serial number=202637016 Lucky number 15-21-22-27-47-7 Ref=
number=2026MSCB4900 To begin your lottery claims, Please contact our P.B=
.L Microsoft Corporations Lottery Co-ordinator as follows, Name:John Griff=
n E-mail powerballl2020@gmail.com You are to send the completed verificati=
on form below to The co-ordinator whose email address is given above So tha=
t you will be advised on what to do To get your prize money. NOTE: In ord=
er to avoid unnecessary delays and Complications, please remember to quote =
your reference And batch numbers in all correspondences With us, Furthermor=
e, should there be any change of Address, please do inform our Co-ordinator=
as soon As possible. An original copy of your lucky winning ticket and you=
r Deposit certificate will be sent to you by Lottery Administrative Remitt=
ance Operation. Congratulations once more!!

Anti-fraud resources: