419 scam: "Gerald M. Zackios" <President@worldbank.org> YOUR ATM CARD GRANTS

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "fedexshippingcenter@w.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
1. They don't notify winners by email.
2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!

Fraud email example:

From: "Gerald M. Zackios" <President@worldbank.org>
Reply-To: fedexshippingcenter@w.cn
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 02:23:14 -0400
Subject: YOUR ATM CARD GRANTS

The World Bank External Affairs Office
**Financial Assistance Grants Program**
29th Floor Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank,
Westminster,

Sir/Madam

This is to officially inform you that ATM Card Number 4918691859180912, worth
$750,000 ( Seven Hundred And Fifty Thousand Dollars) has been accredited in
your favor in the World Bank Financial Assistance Grants final draw event held
yesterday. The selection process was carried out through random selection of
over 25 million e-mail addresses drawn from Asia, Australia, American,
African, Europe,North American & South American.Your e-mail address was picked
as the winning email by the World Bank Vice President Mr. Yukio Yoshimura.
This award is been sponsored/organized by World Bank, using FedEx Express,as
the delivery company in charge.The FedEx Dispatch Station Officer will
validate your claims."You are to keep your winning information's strictly
confidential so as to avoid double claims and complications".Please Provide
the FedEx Dispatch Station Officer With the following information's for
immediate delivery.

Questionnaire Form/ Claims Processing Form.
1. Full Name:......
2. Country:......
3. Nationality:..
4. Age/Sex :.....
5. Occupation:...
6. Phone.........
7. Complete Address:......

Fill the above Questionnaire form for verification and send to the
Dispatch Station Office below..

Mr Joseph Cindy
Email: fedexshippingcenter@w.cn

Yours Faithfully,
Gerald M. Zackios,
Minister of Foreign affairs

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam