419 scam: "STAATS LOTTO.NL" <wendywitk@virgilio.it> international prizertunityT ASSISTANCEL LOTTO PROGRAM PŒë¸"

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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:
- "into your nominated bank account" (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)
- "million united states 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)
- ",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)
- "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)
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
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.
- +31622725556 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)
- +34600878740 (Spain, 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.
- infoclaim99nl@netscape.net (Netscape; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "STAATS LOTTO.NL" <wendywitk@virgilio.it>
Reply-To: infoclaim99nl@netscape.net
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 13:10:27 +0100 (GMT+01:00)
Subject: international prize

STAAT LOTERIJ

INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPT.
REF Number:
FAQ/231-ILGI0431/05
BATCH No: EAPA/15/096/FAQ
TICKET No:
20511465463-7644
SERIAL No: 472-9768-98
LUCKY No: 8-66-97-22-65-99
RE: WINNING FINAL NOTIFICATION
Sir, Madam
We are pleased to inform you
of the result of the Lottery
Winners International programs held on the
29th of October 2005.
Your E-mail address attached to Ticket number
20511465463-7644
with Serial number 472-9768-98 drew the lucky numbers
8-66-97-22-65-99, which consequently won in the 1st category,
you have
therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of
US$1,000,000.00 (One
Million United States Dollars). This is from a
total cash prize of
USD$10,000,000.00 Million shared amongst Ten
International Lucky
Winners in the Category A + (Plus).
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
This lottery is
a promotional program by STAAT LOTERIJ, (Biggest
lottery Organization
in the Netherlands) to advertise to the
world its existence. All
participants were selected through a
computer ballot system drawn from
over 50,000 companies and
2,000,000 individual email addresses from all
over the world, as
part of our international promotions program, which
we intend to
conduct several times a year.
Be informed that your
documents have to pass our authority to
obtain a clearance, which shall
be attached to your document in
readiness of the subsequent onward
transfer into your nominated
bank account with 24 hours of completion
of the authentication.
Due to the possibility of unscrupulous
individuals filing a
double claim, we suggest that you keep this award
strictly
confidential until your claim has been processed and notarized
and your certificate of award obtained. This is in conformity
with the
lottery claim regulations by our Organization & High
Court of Justice.
This is part of our security protocol measures to avoid double
claiming
and unwarranted abuse of this program by some
participants/non
participants.
All winnings must be claimed not later than 29-12-2005

After this date all unclaimed funds will be included in
the next stake.
Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically
disqualified.

To file
for your claim, please contact our /your processing
agent
Mr. M. JIM
BAKER.
TEL +31-622-725-556 :NL
TEL +34-600-878-740 :ES
Email:
infoclaim99nl@netscape.net
NOTE: All winnings must be notarized and a
certificate of award
must be obtained from the High Court of Justice to
complete the
claims process, this certificate can only be obtained
through
legal representation so winners will be referred to a lawyer to
assist in this process. Winners are to cover the legal charges
for the
notarization of the claims form and the acquisition of
the certificate
of award not STAAT LOTERIJ.
In order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, provide
the following when replying:
Name:
Nationality:
Country of residence:
Tel number:
Delays will compel us to disperse
your funds, in other words, we
shall divert your funds as stated above.
Kindly remember to
quote your reference number numbers in all
correspondence.
Finally, you call on us and make sure that you save a
copy of
this mail and note every letter clearly as stated for we will
not be held responsible should there be any complications in
this
transaction due to laxity on your part.
Congratulations once more from
our members of staff and thank
you for being part of our promotional
program.
Yours truly,
Wendy Witkamp.
STAATS LOTERIJ.
NOTICE: You
have received this message from STAATS LOTERIJ
international prize
dept. at your e-mail address because you
have visited one of our
sponsored sites and have voluntarily
given your email address to
receive mails from their sponsors.If
you wish to be taken out of this
list do not reply to this mail,
reply to the agent with the words
remove. If you are not the
intended recipient, you must not, directly
or indirectly, use,
disclose, distribute, print or copy any part of
this message.
If you believe you have received this message in error,
please
delete it and all copies of it from your system and notify the
sender immediately by reply e-mail. Thank you.
infoclaim99nl@netscape.
net

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam