419 scam: "BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY" <info@britishlotto.com> (no subject)

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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")
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.
- drrobertgraham12@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY" <info@britishlotto.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: gabriel.reids444@9.cn
Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 20:49:38 +0600 (BDT)
Subject:

Ref: 575061725
Batch: 8056490902/188
Winning no: GB8701/LPRC

Dear Lucky Winner,

We are delighted to inform you of your prize release from the British
Lottery program.You hereby have been approved a lump sum pay of POUNDS
650,000.00 (SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS) in cash credit file
ref: ILP/HW47509/07 from the total cash prize of POUNDS 450,000.00 shared
amongst ten lucky winners in this category. All participant were selected
through a computer balloting system drawn form Nine hundred thousand
E-mail addresses from Canada, Australia,United States, Asia, Europe,
Middle East, Africa and Oceanic as part of our international promotions
program which is conducted annually. HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE? Simply
contact our claims agent,Dr.ROBERT GRAHAM (drrobertgraham12@gmail.com)
Please quote your reference, batch and winning number which can be found
on the top left corner of this notification as well as your full
name,address,telephone number,which will be use for the transfer of your
winnings.

FULL NAME:.................... DELIVERY............. OR BANK ACCOUNT
NO

......... ADDRESS:................. PHONE NUMBER..................

COUNTRY:................... OCCUPATION:....................

SEX:............................ AGE:.............................

A COPE OF YOUR IDENTITY:..............

Note, all winnings MUST be claimed by the 25th OCT 2010.

Best Regards
Mrs. Michelle Davidson (coordinator)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam