419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "diplomatic delivery"
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "hundred thousand united state dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "diplomatic delivery" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
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!
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447017038533 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- drpastorrichardsmithagent@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "YAHOO LOTTERY PROMO 2012" <hbelnavis@rogers.com>
Reply-To: drpastorrichardsmithagent@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2012 06:32:37 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: YOUR EMAIL ID HAVE WON $500,
000. USD (FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND USD) YAHOO LOTTERY PROMO 2012.

Yahoo! Lottery Promo (UK LONDON) 2012.
Contact Number:+447017038533 / +447017038533
Claim Manager: DR.PASTOR RICHARD SMITH.

CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU HAVE WON $500,000.USD ( FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED
STATE DOLLARS ) (YAHOO! LOTTERY 2012)

Dear Lucky Winner,

Congratulations! You are among the few 50 Lucky Winners selected for Yahoo
/ Lottery Award Promo 2012 drawn last night and it has won you ($500,000
USD ) FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATE DOLLARS ) To claim your winning
prize, Please contact your Processing and Payment Manager with a proof of
identification for claim Via email Below.

Important Notice; Send your Name, Your Address, Your Age, Your Mobile
Number , Your Occupation, Your Sex, Marital Status,Name of your State,
Your Nationality,& Your Scan Copy of Your ID OR Photo Copy , send all the
require payment details to the claim manager through below email for your
payment.

NOTE: WE PAID WINNERS THROUGH OUR SPECIAL DIPLOMATIC DELIVERY COMPANY
ONLY, Please to enable our Special Diplomatic Delivery agent deliver your
wining prize to you in your country, We advise you to send below Full
details require for your payment to the claim manager email below.

Winning Prize must be claim no latter 15days, after 15days unclaimed prize
will be cancel,

Meanwhile I would like to give you a brief explanation or information
about the Yahoo/ Lottery Award Promo. Due to the fact that you might be
confused about how you won or if actually this is true. In fact, many
winners have asked such questions and are cleared accordingly and they all
proceed and claim their prize without any problem.

INFORMATION ABOUT" YAHOO ONLINE LOTTERY.

The YAHOO LOTTERY AWARD PROMO, is an independent Internet Lotto
organization that has been financially assisting people with it's
intention to changing peoples life since 1998, so many people have
benefited from it over the years. All Participants were selected randomly
through a computer balloting system from over 100,000 unions,
associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online from Canada,
Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East.

Please to claim your winning prize, You have to send all complete
information's require to your Claim Manager through below email address.

Name: DR. PASTOR RICHARD SMITH (Payment Manager)
E-Mail: drpastorrichardsmithagent@gmail.com

Contact Number:+447017038533 / +447017038533

These are your identification Winning numbers:
Batch number.....................YM 1109102XN
Reff number.......................Y M354437XN
Winning number.......YM 11 13 88 54 04

Congratulations Once again for being Part of our Award Lucky Winner.YAHOO
LOTTERY PROMO 2012.

Yours in Services.

MRS.Elizabeth Mogarm: Co-ordinator.
(Yahoo/ online Lottery Award 2012).

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam