419 scam: "Federal Bureau Of Investigation"<alert@fbi.gov> *Alert*

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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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "you are required to pay " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "processing fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "cashier's check" (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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Federal Bureau Of Investigation" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fbi.usa7@gala.net>
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:14:48 +0700
Subject: *Alert*

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<DIV class=Section1>
<o:p> </o:p>
FEDERAL
BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION<o:p></o:p>
Anti-Terrorist
and International Fraud Division<o:p></o:p>
601
4th Street NW, Washington, DC 20535<o:p></o:p>

 <o:p></o:p>
Attn:
Beneficiary <o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
RE:
AUTHETICATED LOTTERY

WINNINGS<o:p></o:p>
 <o:p></o:p>
This
is to officially inform you that it has come to our notice and we

have
thoroughly completed an Investigation with the help of our

Intelligence
Monitoring Network System that you legally won the sum of

$850,000.00 US Dollars
from a Lottery Organization in the United Kingdom. During our

investigation we
discovered that your e-mail won the Lottery from an online

balloting system and
we have authorized this winning to be authentic and paid to you

via a Certified
Cashier's Check. Normally, it will take up to 15 business days

for an
International Check to be cashed by your local bank. We have

successfully come
to an agreement with this organization on your behalf that funds

are to be drawn
from a registered bank within the United States of America so

as to enable you
cash the check instantly without any delay, henceforth the

stated amount of
$850,000.00 US Dollars has been deposited with Chase

Manhattan Bank.
<o:p></o:p>
 <o:p></o:p>
We
have completed this investigation and you are hereby approved

to receive the
winning prize as we have verified the entire transaction to be

Legitimate, Safe
and 100% risk free of scams and frauds of any nature, due to

the fact that the
funds have been deposited at Chase Manhattan Bank you will

be required to settle
the following bills directly to the lottery claims agent in-charge of

this
transaction whom is located at the liaison office of the Lottery

Organization in
Washington, DC. According to our records, you are required to

pay for the
following: <o:p></o:p>
 <o:p></o:p>

(1)
Deposit Fee's (Fee's paid by the organization for the deposit into

Chase
Manhattan Bank)<o:p></o:p>
(2)
Cashier's Check Conversion Fee (Fee for converting the EFT

into a Certified
Cashier's Check)<o:p></o:p>
(3)
Shipping Fee's (The charge for shipping the Cashier's Check to

your nominated
destination)<o:p></o:p>
 <o:p></o:p>
The
total amount is $349.99 (Three Hundred & Fourty Nine

United States Dollars
& Ninety Nine Cents). We have tried our possible best to

have the lottery
organization deduct the $349.99 from your lottery winning but

the funds have
already been deposited at Chase Manhattan Bank and cannot

be accessed by anyone
apart from you the winner. Therefore you will be required to pay

the needed
funds to your lotto claims Agent in-charge of this transaction.

The payment will
NOT reflect at the Chase Manhattan Bank with the given

transaction code
(US8976-003) until you have covered the processing fees

needed. <o:p></o:p>
 <o:p></o:p>
In
order to proceed with this transaction, <A
href="mailto:ericaclain@gala.net">Click
Here</A>

(<A
href="mailto:ericaclain@gala.net">ericaclain@gala.net</A>)
to contact your claims agent <A

href="mailto:mailto:ericaclain@gala.net">Mrs.
Erica Molin</A>
.You may be required to call her for verbal verification and e-mail

her with the
following informations: <o:p></o:p>
 <o:p></o:p>
FULL
NAME: <o:p></o:p>
LOCAL
ADDRESS (INCLUDING CITY/STATE/ZIPCODE):

<o:p></o:p>
AGE/GENDER/OCCUPATION:
<o:p></o:p>
CONTACT
PHONE NUMBERS (CELL & HOME): <o:p></o:p>

 <o:p></o:p>
You
will also be required to request details on how to pay up the

required $349.99
in order to immediately ship your prize of $850,000.00 USD via

Certified
Cashier's Check drawn from Chase Manhattan Bank, Also

include the following
transaction code in order for her to immediately identify this

transaction:
US8976-003. This letter will serve as proof that the Federal

Bureau Of
Investigation is authorizing you to pay the required $349.99

ONLY to your claims
agent via the information in which she shall send to you upon

your request, if
you do not receive your winning prize of $850,000.00 US Dollars

we shall be held
responsible for the loss and this shall invite a penalty of $3,000

which will be
made PAYABLE ONLY by you (The Winner). <o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Robert
Anderson, Jr. <o:p></o:p>
Special
Agent in Charge <o:p></o:p>
 <o:p></o:p>
NOTE:
In order to ensure your check gets delivered to you ASAP, you

are advised to
immediately contact <A

href="mailto:ericaclain@gala.net">Mrs.
Erica Molin</A>
(<A
href="mailto:ericaclain@gala.net">ericaclain@gala.net</A>)
via contact information provided above and make the required

payment of $349.99
to information in which she will provide you.
<o:p></o:p></DIV></BODY></HTML>

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam