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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
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.
- +447017742963 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
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.
- scpaliwal@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
- true? please reply, thanking (s.c.paliwal) my mail id.* *scpaliwal@gmail.com the coca cola company promotion/prize award dept coca cola (Gmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
- richandcard@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
- fill the form and send to mr.richard scaletworldwi richandcard@gmail.com for prize claim. the coca-cola lottery has discovered a (Gmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: subash paliwal <scpaliwal@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 11:50:15 +0530
Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Lucky_winners_who_won_=A3750=2C000=2E00_each_on_the_COCA_?=
=?ISO-8859-1?Q?COLACOMPANY_PROMOTION_2009=2E?=

Sir,
I have received undernoted mail of Lucky winners who won £750,000.00 each
on the COCA COLACOMPANY PROMOTION 2009.Is it true?
Please reply,
Thanking
(S.C.Paliwal)
My Mail Id.* *scpaliwal@gmail.com

THE COCA COLA COMPANY
PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD
DEPT COCA COLA AVENUE
STAMFORD BRIDGE LONDON
SW1V 3DW UNITED KINGDOM.
2009 COCACOLA LOTTERY PROGRAM..

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual
final
draws held on the (2nd January 2009) by Coca-Cola Promotion, Your email was
among the 10 Lucky winners who won £750,000.00 each on the COCA COLA
COMPANY PROMOTION 2009.
Your email was attached to ticket number(7PWYZ2008) and ballot number
(BT:12052008/20),The on-line draws was conducted by a random selection of
email
addresses from an exclusive list of (2500,000)However No tickets were sold
(free
of charge) all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for
representation and privacy.
E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies and picked by an
advanced automated random computer search from the Internet.

The selection process was carried out through random selection in our
computerized email selection machine (TOPAZ) from a database of over
2500,000
email addresses which was drawn from all the continents of the world This
Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by the The
International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR)..
This lottery is the 3rd of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public.
Winner shall be paid within 12hours after contacting the Claims Agent Mr
Louis
Benson.to claim your £750,000.00 prize winning, you will have to fill the
form
below and send it to the Claims Agent for claims via he's personal email
below.
CLAIMS REQUIREMENT
Your Full Name:........................
Your Age:.............................
Your Sex:..............................
Your Address:.......................
Your Phone:........................
Your Country:...................... .
Your Email:.........................
Your Ticket Number...................
Your Ballot Number..................

Fill the form and send to Mr.richard
scaletworldwi richandcard@gmail.com For prize claim.
The Coca-Cola lottery has discovered a huge number of double claims due to
winners informing close.

Information and Payment Bureau:
Representative Courier Company Office.
Name: Mr.BROUCES WINYBOUDS
EMAIL:Email:broswiny@yahoo.co.uk <EMAIL%3AEmail%3Abroswiny@yahoo.co.uk>
Your Sincerely,
Management
Mr.Louis Benson
Coca Cola Company UK.
Tel: +44-7017742963

Anti-fraud resources:

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