419 scam: "Mr.Paul Berman"<erni@umy.ac.id> YOU HAVE WON £1,000,000.00

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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
- "uk national lottery inc." (no such lottery exists)
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "money laundering" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
- ",000,000" (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)
- "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)
- "affidavit " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
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.
- +447045759110 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.Paul Berman" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <paul.berman.vgvc@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:46:57 -0700
Subject: YOU HAVE WON £1,000,000.00

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY INC.
32 Hurst Street
Birmingham, B5 4TB
United Kingdom
Ref: OXS/812/07
Batch: 322056Q.
APPROVED £1,000,000.00 GBP LOTTERY AWARD.

Attention:Dear Prize Winner,

You have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications
Department at the headquarters of the OXFORD HOUSE. Your winning check
will be delivered to you and original copy of your winning certificate,
(Money Laundering protection and Letter of Affidavit for Claims) from the
Oxford Board of Directors stating that the money was obtained legally
through their Oxford 50th Years Lottery Anniversary and will be sent to
you as soon as you choose from the options below.

(1) Coming to the United Kingdom to personally collect your Winnings from
our Office. If you choose to come over to the United Kingdom, You will be
required to come along with your International Passport as means of
identification and £3,500 Pounds, which you will be required to pay at
our Office before we begin the processing of your winnings.

(2) Direct Online Transfer of the £1,000,000.00 Pounds to your Account
from our Paying Bank, UK. It will only cost you £1,000 Pounds,
you will be required to contact the Bank to find out how to open/activate
the online account with them, how to send the charges for account
activation.

(3) CERTIFIED CHECK we can also deliver your CHECK and other winning
Documents to your house address via Registered Courier .It will only cost
you £510 (Five Hundred and Ten Pounds) for the Courier Delivery charges.

*Beneficiary will be fully responsible for the Bank to bank transfer charge or courier service
delivery charge. The British Gaming Commission stipulated that the FULL VALUE should be
remitted in full to the beneficiary, what this means is that the Bank to bank transfer charges or
courier service charges are non deductible cost. your winning prize will be forwarded to the
courier company or to the transferring Bank depending on the claims option selected by you
so you can proceed immediately with effecting the release of your claims in anyway you deem
fit.

Yours faithfully,
Mr. Paul Berman.
(Verification officer)
Tel: +447045759110
Tel:+447017715640
Fax:+448704712810

===============================================================

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This email is confidential and intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s). This email may
also be privileged or protected by legal rules. If you have received this by mistake please let us
know by reply immediately and destroy without reading, copying or forwarding the contents

© UK Lotto Worldwide 2009. All rights reserved

Verification Officer Oxford.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam