419 scam: "Shell-Petroleum"<shellawards@optusnet.com.au> REFERENCE WINNING NUMBER #: 73284294SA

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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:
- "hundred thousand 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)
- "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)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Shell-Petroleum" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <test@lay-out.com.cn>
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 17:30:44 -0500
Subject: REFERENCE WINNING NUMBER #: 73284294SA

SHELL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY,
Internet Promotion Awards.

REFERENCE NUMBER #: 73284294SA
BATCH #: UK-0385-SHI

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of One Million Two Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (USD$1,200,000.00) for the month of October, 2009 Prize promotion which was organized by SHELL PETROLEUM COMPANY.
Among the millions that subscribed to various websites with their emails, only Six people are selected yearly to benefit from this promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners.

NOTE: The only fees you have to pay is the courier company fee which is USD$200.00. Contact them as soon as possible to make arrangement on how to effect the delivery of your Winnings

Contact: Mr Wallace Rice
Email: test@lay-out.com.cn

FULL NAME:
DELIVERY ADDRESS:
PHONE NUMBER:
FAX NUMBER(IF ANY):
COUNTRY:
OCCUPATION:
SEX:
AGE:
REFERENCE NUMBER:
BATCH:

CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN
We also advise that you keep your winning information very confidential as our security policy demands to avoid double claims/impersonation and unwarranted abuse of this program by some individuals.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ron Van Dem Berg,
President SHELL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY (SPDC).

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam