419 scam: "FREELOTTO AWARD NOTIFICATION"<b677@hotmail.com> Your E-mai ID Has Made You A winner!!!!!!!!fer4PŒë¸"

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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.
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:
- "million 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)
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 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.
- vesfinance@netscape.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "FREELOTTO AWARD NOTIFICATION" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <vesfinance@netscape.net>
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:43:46 +0200
Subject: Your E-mai ID Has Made You A winner!!!!!!!!

Your E-mai ID Has Made You A winner!!!!!!!!

Congratulations!

Your E-mail ID has brought to you an UNEXPECTED luck of $550, 000.00
Uunited States Dollars in Freelotto Award 2010. Call, Fax or E-mail Your Code Number: 0770-4578-3330-01 to redeem your AWARD.

Your email ID was selected by Electronic Random Selection System (ERSS) from the internet around the globe, your e-mail with the following: Ticket number 5486623, with a Serial number 47550023 and Lucky number 10-17-21-23-34-39 consequently won in the Second Category. You have therefore been awarded a lump sum pay out of US$550, 000. 00 (Five Hundred & Fifty Thousand United States Dollars), which is the winning payout for Category B winners from a total cash prize of US$50, 000, 000.00 (Thrity Million Dollars) shared amongst the first Eight (8) lucky winners.

Please contact our accredited processing agency (VESTING FINANCE CONSULTANCY) on the following contact details below: Please quote the following on your reply for a confirmation of your winning:

Full Name:
Adress:
Age:
Marital Status:
Phone Number:
Occupation:
Ref Number: 0770-4578-3330-01
Claim Expiration Date: 10 days
**************************************************************************************************
Contact person: Mr. Francis E. Schuster.
Tel/Fax: +34847378622
Email: vesfinance@netscape.net

**************************************************************************************************
Note: As part of our security measure in your best interest to avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind, we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly from public notice until the processing of your claims has been completed preventing people applying for your winning fund as we have had cases like this before, because no ticket was sold.

Once again,Congratulations

Sincerely,

Dr. Patricia Carlson.

This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential & proprietary. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. Thank you very much.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam