419 scam: "CUSTOMER SERVICES" <euromillions2005@walla.com> PERSONAL NOTIFICATIONEDnal BankCErnational PromPŒë¸"

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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:

The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
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 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.
- euromillion@lycos.es (Lycos, Spain; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "CUSTOMER SERVICES" <euromillions2005@walla.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 19:46:00 +0100
Subject: PERSONAL NOTIFICATION

EURO MILLIONS LOTTERY BV.
CALLE GRAN VIA 23
28011 MADRID,
SPAIN.
FROM: OFFICE OF THE PROMOTION MANAGER,
EURO MILLIONS LOTTERY BV.
REF NO: EULB/La-05
BATCH: MDR/975YR/83DT
Dear Sir / Madam,
RE: AWARD NOTIFICATION / FINAL NOTICE
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today of winners of EURO MILLIONS LOTTERY GAME PROMOTION, an International Program held on 28th November 2005. Your email address or your company email address was attached to the ticket number 10921; with serial number: 26573-88, drew the lucky numbers: 8956120, and consequently won the lottery in category "A".
You have hereby been approved for a lump sum payment of _1,500,000.00Million Euros in cash credited to your file REFERENCE NUMBER:EULB/La-05.This is from total prize money of _15,000.000.00 Millions Euros shared among the ten (10) International winners in this category. All participants were selected through a computer Ballot system drawn from 100,000 email addresses from all continents as part of international promotions program which is conducted annually.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Your fund is now deposited with a Finance House here in SPAIN and insured in your favour. Due to the mixed up of some numbers and mail addresses we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this program.
To begin your claim, please contact our claim department below immediately:
MR ALBERTO MENEDEZ
DIRECTOR OF CLAIM
E-MAIL ID: euromillion@lycos.es
For due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice.Remember,all prize money must be claimed not later than 23 December , 2005. After this date, all funds will be returned to us as unclaimed.
NOTE:In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complication,please remember to quote your reference and batch numbers, your full names, age and nationality in every of your correspondence with our claim department. Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform our claims agent as soon as possible.
Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program. You are advised to contact our claim department on receipt of this mail for your payment processing.
Sincerely,
MR. JUAN SORIA
PROMOTION MANAGER,
EURO MILLIONS LOTTERY BV.
SPAIN

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