419 scam: YAHOO LOTTO SERVICE <notification@yahoo.com> YOU HAVE JUST WON 500,000 GBP !!!

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:
- "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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "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.
- +22566236026 (Cote d'Ivoire, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: YAHOO LOTTO SERVICE <notification@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: customercare-claim-agent@promo-inc.co.cc
Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:27:32 +0200
Subject: YOU HAVE JUST WON 500,000 GBP !!!


Yahoo! Inc.
Customer Care .
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
USA.


This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of  Five Hund
 red Thousand 
Great British Pounds (500,000.00 GBP) in the YEAR 2009/2010 YAHOO! Lottery  
promotion which is organized by YAHOO! LOTTERY INC for the introduction and 
Launching of the new YAHOO ! BETA MAIL which all YAHOO! subscribers are required 
to switch to.

YAHOO! & MICROSOFT WINDOWS, arranged and gathered all the e-mail addresses
of the people that are active online, among the Millions that subscribe at
YAHOO!,HOTMAIL and Others. We only selected THREE (3) candidates as our winners
after undergoing the random selection process through electronic balloting
System (E.B.S) without the candidate applied, we congratulate  you for being one
of the people selected with your email address.

                   PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM
You are to contact the Claim Agent Dr.Barry Wright who will issue you a
clearance paper as a winning certificate approved and cert
 ified from our
Regional office in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire and your prize money will be
released to you from any of our regional promotion banks as directed by the
claim agent.

YAHOO! Beta Lottery Prize must be claimed not later than 14 days from date of
Draw Notification  in which Prize has been won.

Note: (Any prize not claimed within this period of 15 days) will be nullified.

IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS

Batch number.....................YBM-EBS-390AF
Reff number........................YBM-EBS-719AF
Winning number...............YBM-EBS-798AF

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our UK Regional booklet
representative office in London as indicated in your play coupon. In view of
this, your (Five Hundred Thousand Pounds) will be released to you by any of our
payment regional offices in UNITED KINGDOM CENTER Precisely.

CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT HERE
Our Africa Fiduciary Claims Agent:
Dr.Barry Wright
Official Email Address:
yahoolottoclaimsagentbarry@promo-inc.co.cc
customercare-claim-agent@promo-inc.co.cc
Telephone: +225-66-23-60-26


Enjoy Online Lottery

You are therefore advised to send the following information to him to
facilitate and process the transfer of your fund with any of our Bank promotion
agents.

Send your Identification Numbers/Your Personal Information to him so that he
will proceed further for your prize claim immediately:

PERSONAL INFORMATION


1. Full Name:...............................................
2. Nationality/Religion:..
 ..................................
3. Contact Address:.........................................
4. Telephone Number:........................................
5. Fax Number:..............................................
6. Date of Birth:....................................... ...
7. Occupation...............................................
8. Age......................................................
9. Sex......................................................

 10.Atternative E-mail address:..............................
11.Next of Kin of the Beneficlary ..........................



IMPORTANT NOTE:You are advised to keep your winning information confidential to
avoid "Double Claim  and Abuse of the Program" until your prize is
paid to you.

We hope you're enjoying your new Yahoo! Mail account. Now take the next
step and claim your money and say thanks to Yahoo! You are also requested to 
select how to transfer the prize money to you

1. Account Transfer to your nominated bank
2. Cheque Delivery


This prize will be released to you from any of our promotional banks as will be
directed by the United Kingdom Claim/verification agent.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam