419 scam: BP APOLOGIZES <ppp.dziekanowlesny@neostrada.pl> BP APOLOGIZES

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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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
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.
- fiduciaryagt@aim.com (AOL Instant Messenger; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: BP APOLOGIZES <ppp.dziekanowlesny@neostrada.pl>
Reply-To: claimdept27@aim.com
Date: Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:42:33 -0700
Subject: BP APOLOGIZES

WINNING NOTICE.
Ref No.2239874/2048
atch No.549/00877342911
Ticket/Series No.NL7218098
Amount Won: $1,450,000.00

Attn: Winner,

This is to formally inform and congratulate you on the result of the
online cyber lotto which was conducted from an exclusive list of 1,000.000
email addresses of individual and corporate bodies selected by an advanced
automated random computer ballot system from the internet.

BP reached agreement Wednesday on a $20 billion fund to compensate victims
of the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the giant British
company's chairman apologized to America for the worst environmental
accident in the nation's history.

Your e-mail address emerged as a winner in the category "A" with the
following information enclosed.

You are therefore to receive a cash prize of $1,450,000.00. (One Million
Four Hundred And Fifty Thousand United States Dollars).

To file in for the processing of your prize winnings, you are advised to
contact our Certified and Accredited fiduciary agent for category "A"
winners with the information below:

*************************************
KELVIN BROWN.
Phone: +60 1 262 934 04
EMAIL: fiduciaryagt@aim.com
*************************************

You are advice to provide him with the following information and a copy of
your international passport or driver's license via email attachment for
vetting process which is a standard practice just to ensure that we are
dealing with the right individual.

First name:
Last Name:
Telephone/Fax number:
Nationality:
Age:
Occupation:
Winning Email:

NOTE: Ensure to quote your Reference Numbers in all your communication with
your claims agent. All winnings must be claimed not later than seven working
days, thereafter unclaimed funds would be included in the next stake.

Congratulations! Thank you for being a user of the World Wide Web.

Yours Faithfully,
Mabel Van Eric
http://www.lotto.nl/
Lottery Coordinator.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam