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:

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:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "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)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
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.
- +447035930189 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: YAHOO TEAM AWARD PROMOTION <yahuubetainc-resultteam@msn.com>
Reply-To: <rev.f.nelson09@live.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:19:59 +0000
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=AE((((((((_?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?Congratula?=
=?iso-8859-1?Q?tions_))))?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?)))))_Your?=
=?iso-8859-1?Q?_e-mail_Wo?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?n_our_Lott?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?ery?=

YAHOO! BETA TEAM /MICROSOFT INTERNATIONAL AWARD 2009
GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSE!!!
YAHOO! BETA TEAM /MICROSOFT IS REGISTERED UNDER THE DATA
PROTECTION ACT OF; (Registration Z720633X).

Ref No: YBM-EBS-719AF
Batch Number: YBM-EBS-390AF
Winning Number. YBM-EBS-798AF
Coupon No.MSTL-146478972197

Dear Email Bearer,

CONSOLATION PRIZE WINNING
NOTICE!!!

Yahoo! Beta Team
private International E-games organizers and Co-sponsors, MICROSOFT/
STAATSLOTERIJ officially bring to your notice of the final draw result
of 2009 YAHOO! TEAM/MICROSOFT / STAATSLOTERIJ wheel E-game which was conducted at our international corporate office complex in London, England.

Most recently this foundation set up the YAHOO! BETA TEAM
LOTTERY SCHEME to give out prizes based on COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM.... By
doing this the foundation seek to encourage the use of Internet for
academic and business pursuits. It major aim is to promote music,
theater, art and literature projects in the social and political arena
with a focus on health, as well as science, research, and higher
education. We wish to Congratulate and inform you on the selection of
your email coupon number which was selected among the 5 lucky consolation prize winners.

Your
email ID identified with Coupon No. MSTL-146478972197 was selected by
our E-games Random Selection System (ERSS) with entries from the 50,000
different email addresses enrolled for the E-game. Your email ID was
included among the 50,000 different email addresses submitted by our
partner international email provider companies. YAHOO! TEAM
& MICROSOFT
WINDOWS, arrange and gather some of
all the e-mail addresses of the people that are active online, among
the Millions that subscribed to Yahoo! Team and Hotmail
NETWORKS we only select FIVE (5) candidates per annually as our
winners through Electronic Balloting System (EBS) without the
candidate applying, we congratulate you for being one of the people
selected.
You
have won a consolation cash prize of £300,000.00 (Three Hundred
Thousand British Pounds Only).The YAHOO! BETA,
MICROSOFT/STAATSLOTERIJ Group have approved a payout of your
consolation cash prize which will be remunerated directly to you by the
official Payment Agency Board. PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM
We are sorry that your Payment Approval File was sent to London due to
we have 2 lucky winners in United Kingdom so that you can be cleared
and paid simultaneously there. You are to contact our UK Location Claim
Office with the information below, before your date of Claim.
Yahoo!
Beta Lottery Prize must be claimed not later than 12 days from date of
Draw Notification after the Draw date in which Prize has won.
Our
DUE PROCESS UNIT (DPU) will render to you complete assistance and
provide additional information and processes for the claims of your consolation prize. For due processing of your winning claim, please contact your claim Agent Rev. Ferdinand Nelson who has been assigned to assist you.

CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT:

Name: Rev. Ferdinand Nelson
E-mail: rev.f.nelson09@live.com
Telephone Number:
+447035930189

You are advised to provide him with the following information:

Full Name: ..........................................

Contact Address: .................................

Phone Number: ......................................

Fax Number: ........................................

Nationality: ..........................................

Occupation.............................................

Marital Status: ....................................

Sex: .....................................................

Age: ....................................................

Amount Won: .......................................

Country of
origin..................................

Ref Number: YBM-EBS-719AF

Batch Number: YBM-EBS-390AF

Winning Number: YBM-EBS-798AF

Coupon Number: MSTL-146478972197

MEANS
OF
PAYMENT

Cheque Delivery
Atm Card
Payment
Bank Account Transfer

Once
again congratulations from all our staffs on your Consolation prize
winning, we hope you will partake in our Forth coming YAHOO! BETA TEAM,
MICROSOFT/ STAATSLOTERIJ Email-games.

Regards,

(Group Coordinator)

NB:
In accordance with the YAHOO BETA TEAM, MICROSOFT/STAATSLOTERIJ E-games
policy and regulations, this notification is dispatched directly to
only the 5 lucky consolation prize Winners. This notification also
contains information that is proprietary, privileged or confidential or
otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the right
recipient whose email address attached to the lucky number
along with the winning information, you are not authorized to read,
print, retain copy or disseminate this notice or any part of
it.

YAHOO! UK &
IRELAND
COPYRIGHT (C) 1999-2009 YAHOO! TEAM
LOTTERY AWARD INC.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam