419 scam: "Coca-Cola Inc" <upsuk@aol.co.uk> Accept our hearty congratulations.

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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "part of our security protocols" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned 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.
- +2347065457879 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
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.
- admin20@superposta.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Coca-Cola Inc" <upsuk@aol.co.uk>
Reply-To: <admin20@superposta.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2012 09:38:42 -0700
Subject: Accept our hearty congratulations.

Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd.
House 13, Trustees Estate
Madeira FCT Abuja,
Nigeria.

ATTN; Award Recipient,

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded draws
held on the {7th of October, 2012} by Coca-Cola in conjunction with
the iPod Worldwide Promotions Inc. You are among the 10
Lucky winners who won $550,000.00 {Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand
United States Dollars} in the Coca-Cola full happiness Promo.

This draw is organized to enhance general awareness of the Coca-Cola
Zero Products.

Ticket number (7PWYZ2012)
Reference number (BT:12052011/20)

The online draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses
from an exclusive list of 29,031,643 E-mail addresses of individuals
and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer
search from the World Wide Web.

The selection process was carried out through random selection in our
computerized email selection machine (TOPAZ). However, no tickets were
sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers
for representation and privacy.

To begin the claim processing of your prize you are to contact the
claims department with the following information, to
enable us proceed with the verification process of your file.

Full Name:...........................
Address:.............................
Age:.................................
Nationality:.........................
Home Telephone Number:...............
Mobile Telephone Number:.............
Email Address:........................
Occupation:..........................
Language(s) Spoken:..................
Reference No. :......................
Ticket No.:..........................

Online Coordinator: Christopher Sigurd.
Email: admin20@superposta.com
Phone: +2347065457879

*You are advised to forward these information immediately to enable us
commence with the necessary procedures.

For the avoidance of possible mix up of Winners' data and email contacts, we
demand that you keep this notification strictly confidential for security purpose.
This is part of our security protocols to avoid double claims or unscrupulous
acts by internet thief.

*Staff of Coca-Cola and iPod Worldwide Promotions are not to partake in
this programme.

Accept our hearty congratulations.

Yours Faithfully,
Management.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam