419 scam: "Dr. Mrs. Mercy Martins"<info@yahoo.com> YAHOO EMAIL NOTIFICATION

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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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million british pounds" (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)
- ",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)
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.
- +66895096823 (Thailand, probably a mobile phone)
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.
- cordinatordavecolman@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Dr. Mrs. Mercy Martins" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <yahlotterythai@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 19:20:01 +0700
Subject: YAHOO EMAIL NOTIFICATION

YAHOO MAIL LOTTERY
124 Stockport Road, Long sight, Manchester M60 2DB - United Kingdom

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of One Million British Pounds (?1,000,000.00) for 2010 Prize promotion which is organized by YAHOO, AOL & WINDOWS LIVE.

YAHOO and MICRO SOFT collects all the email addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail and few from other e-mail providers. Six people are selected to benefit from this promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM.

Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Center . Yahoo Prize Award must be claimed no later than one month, from date of Draw Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited.

Stated below are your identification numbers: BATCH NUMBER: MFI/08/APA-43658, REFERENCE NUMBER: 2008234522 PIN: 1208 WINNING NUMBER: 01 14 21 30 35 48

These numbers fall within the England Location file, you are requested to contact our fiduciary agent in Bangkok Thailand and send your winning identification numbers to him;

CLAIMS MANAGER CONTACT INFORMATION:

TEL: +66895096823
CONTACT PERSON: Mr. Dave Coleman
EMAIL:cordinatordavecolman@yahoo.com.hk
You are advised to send the following information to your Claims Agent to facilitate the release of of your fund to you.

1. Full name...............................
2. Country..................................
3. Contact Address.....................
4. Telephone Number.................
5. Fax Number............................
5. Marital Status.........................
6. Occupation.............................
7. My Date of birth......................
8. Sex.................................
9. Batch Number.................................
10. Reference Number.................................
11. Pin Number................................
12. Winning Number................................
13. Amount Won................................

Congratulations!! Once again.

Yours in service,
Dr. (Mrs.) Mercy Martins
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WARNING!

Do not tell people about your Prize Award until your money is successfully handed over to you to avoid disqualification that may arise from double claim.

You may also receive similar e-mails from people portraying to be other Organizations of yahoo Inc. This is solely to collect your personal information from you and lay claim over your winning. In event that you receive any e-mail similar to the notification letter that was sent to you, kindly delete it from your mailbox and give no further correspondence to such person or body.

Yahoo shall not be held responsible for any loss of fund arising from the above mentioned. PLS SEND YOUR REPLY TO YOUR CLAIMING MANAGER EMAIL ADDRESS:
PLEASE DON’T FAIL TO MR DAVE COLEMAN AT:cordinatordavecolman@yahoo.com.hk

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam