419 scam: "INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY COMMISSION"<freeblessing@terra.es> CONGRATULATIONS!!! CALL TEL: +3460,312,5674 TO CLAIM YOUR BEGINNING OF THE YEAR

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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "grupocatalan@luckymail.com" (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: "INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY COMMISSION" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <infogrupocatalan@aim.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:41:11 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! CALL TEL: +3460,312,5674 TO CLAIM YOUR BEGINNING OF THE YEAR INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY WINNING PRIZE YOU HAVE WON 615,810 EUROS IN BEGINNING OF THE YEAR INTERNATIONAL E-MAIL AWARD PROMOTION PROGRAM 2012

INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY COMMISSION
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS / PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
Plaza Romano N9 Planta 5,
28011, MADRID, SPAIN

Attention Lucky Winner,

IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION FOR YOUR INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY WINNING PRIZE.
We congratulate you over your email success on our computer
Balloting in our INTERNATIONAL BEGINNING OF THE YEAR E-MAIL AWARD
PROMOTION PROGRAM 2012. Your email address drew and has won you the sum
of 615,810 Euros (Six Hundred and Fifteen Thousand Eight Hundred and Ten Euros)
in cash Awaits You with WINNING REFERENCE NUMBER:ESP/WIN/008/05/10/MA;
BATCH NUMBER: EURO/1007/444/606/08; LUCKY NUMBER:23-7-2-6-12-9;
PROMOTION DATE : 13th April 2012 and SERIAL NUMBER:6594.
To claim your winning prize, you are to contact the appointed agent
directly as fast as possible for the immediate release of your winnings prize
with Your Full Name,Your Telephone Number and Your Mobile Number below:

GRUPO CATALANA OCCIDENTE S.A.
MR. JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ
TEL: +3460-312-5674
FAX: +3491-790-3690
Email: grupocataLan@LuckymaiL.com

Congratulations once again from all our staff.

Mrs. Patricia Atoche Douet (co-ordinator)
Internation Lottery commission Board

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam