419 scam: "Larry Cole" <admin@live.com> Dear Lucky Winner of ($1.200,000.00 USD)!

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:
- "atm payment department" (this phrase is often used in the ATM card payment scam)
- "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 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.
- +447024080738 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Larry Cole" <admin@live.com>
Reply-To: live_win09@live.com
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:58:50 +0800 (PHT)
Subject: Dear Lucky Winner of ($1.200,000.00 USD)!

WINDOW LIVE LOTTERY 2010,
HEADQUARTER,UNITED KINGDOM.
=====================
Winning NO: 2010/20
Batch NO: 521/2010
Ticket No.:ATM-521-0082
=====================

Dear Lucky Winner,

We happily announce to you that Your e-mail address have been Chosen by
The 2010 WINDOWS LIVE LOTTERY on the 15TH Of Febuary 2010, To Ticket
No.:ATM-521-0082 which is held once in every four years interval, And is
also organized to encourage the use of internet and computers.

We are proud to say that you have therefore been approved to claim The ATM
Card Donation of $1.200,000.00 USD (One Million Two Hundred Dollars)in
cash. The lottery 2010 is proudly sponsored by the Microsoft Corporation,
Yahoo!, Coca Cola, Samsung, Toyota, Toshiba.

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential until you claim your prize money.This is part of our
precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of
this program. Please be warned.

contact the ATM Payment Department and also send the following information
as listed below:

Full Name:
Address:
Occupation:
Country:
Telephone:
Sex:
Age:
How Do You Feel As A Winner:

You are advised to contact the director of ATM CARD payment officer for
more directives
======================================
Name.: Ashly Frank
Email.: live_win09@live.com
Tel No.:+447024080738
======================================

We anticipate your total compliance to this message immediately.

YOURS SINCERELY,
Larry Cole.
DIRECTOR GOVERNOR [WINDOW LIVE LOTTERY]
ATM PAYMENT DEPARTMENT.
<<<<YOUR ATM CARD>>>>

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam