419 scam: "admin@vwd admin@vwd" <ac42cc@msn.com> AWARD NOTIFICATION/ FINAL NOTICEDE OIL SHELL LOTTERY WINNPŒë¸"

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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:
- "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- ",000,000" (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)
- ",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.
- lotterywinningvwd@yahoo.co.uk (Yahoo, United Kingdom; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "admin@vwd admin@vwd" <ac42cc@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 22:44:31 +0000
Subject: AWARD NOTIFICATION/ FINAL NOTICE

Virtual World Direct Ltd
WD Member Support
Commodore House
71 Conway Road
North Wales LK69 7AW United Kingdom

FROM: THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
REF: AST341739DS

ATTN: WINNER

AWARD NOTIFICATION/ FINAL NOTICE

We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today, 18TH NOVEMBER,
2005,of winners of the Virtual World Direct Ltd e-LOTTERY ‘MULTI-WIN’
SYNDICATE SYSTEM held on 9th October 2005,were our winners were listed and
you can also view the listing on our
http://www.virtualworlddirect.com/vwdguest/default.asp?

You / your company, attached to ticket number 013-2316-2002-477, with
serial number A025-09 drew the lucky numbers 37-13-34-85-56-42, and
consequently won in category B. You have therefore been approved for a lump
sum pay out of US$2,500,000.00 in cash credited to file REF NO. REF:
AST341739DS.

This is from total prize money of US$15,000,000.00 shared among the six(6)
international winners in the category B. All participants were selected
through a computer ballot system drawn from 30,000 names from
Australia, New Zealand, America, Asia, Europe,USA and North America as part
our International Promotions Program, which is conducted annually.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your fund is now deposited with a Finance and Security House and
insured in your name. Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, 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. We hope with a part of your prize, you will
participate in our end of year high stakes US$1.3 billion International
lotto.

To begin your claim, please contact your claims officer immediately
with the below informations.

James Cook
Co-founder, E-Lottery Ltd.
Virtual World Direct Ltd
lotterywinningvwd@yahoo.co.uk

Anti-fraud resources:

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