419 scam: LOTTERY <wjksoa1@att.net> YOU HAVE WON YAHOO INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY AWARD.

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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:
- "million united state dollars" (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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "cheque " (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!
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.
- +668551319535 (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.
- private.changsmchai@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: LOTTERY <wjksoa1@att.net>
Reply-To: private.changsmchai@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 05:47:52 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: YOU HAVE WON YAHOO INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY AWARD.

Lottery

YOU HAVE WON YAHOO
INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY AWARD.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Yahoo!!
International Lottery
Organization

Bangkok Branch
Office
Address:
3 Rajdamnern Avenue

Bangkok 10200 Thailand
.

Yahoo!
Mail announces you as one of the 5 lucky winners in the on going Yahoo
lottery
Award of the New Year Held on 10th of march
2010.

All 5
winning email addresses were randomly selected from a batch of
50,000,000
international emails each from Canada, Australia, United States, Asia,
Europe,
Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our international promotions
program
which is conducted annually, consequently, you have been approved for a
total
pay out of ONE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS ( $1, 000. 000.000
USD)

This
Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some multinational
companies as part of their social responsibility to
the citizens in the communities where they have operational
base.

Further
more your details(e-mail address) falls within our Bangkok representative office
in Bangkok Thailand,
as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of ( $1,000.000.00USD)
will be
released to you from this regional branch office in Bangkok
Thailand.

Your fund
is now deposited with our Bank/Security Company Bangkok Thailand and
insured in
your name. Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep
this
award from public notice until your claim has been processed, and your
winning
Cheque have being sent to you or remitted to your account, as this is
part of
our security protocol, to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking
of
advantage of this program by participants, as has happened in the
past.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR
PRIZE:

These are your identification
numbers.
Ticket
number.....................085-12876077-09
Serial
number........................51390-0
Lucky
number...................03-05-12-14-28-38
Ref
number...................N.EGS/3662367114/13

To begin your lottery claims,
Please contact our Yahoo Lottery Co-cordinator as
follows.

Name: Mr. Chang Somchai.
co-odinator
Email:private.changsmchai@yahoo.com.hk

Telephone:+6685-5131-9535.

You are to send the completed
verification form below to the co-ordinator whose name and email address
is
given above so that you will be advised on what to do to get your prize money.
Congratulations once
more!!.

1. FULL
NAME:
2. COUNTRY OF
ORIGIN:
3. PRESENT ADDRESS:
4. DATE OF
BIRTH:
5.
SEX:
6.
OCCUPATION:
7. PRIVATE TELEPHONE
NUMBER:
8. FAX
NUMBER:
9. MARITAL
STATUS:
10. WINNING NUMBER, BATCH NUMBER
AND LOTTO
NUMBER:

Remember,
all prize money must be claimed not later than 30th of May 2010. Any
claim not
made by this date will be returned to HER MAJESTY'S DEPARTMENT OF THE
TREASURY. And also be informed that
10% of your lottery winning belongs to THE PROMOTIONS COMPANY. Because
they are
the company that bought your ticket and played the lottery in your
favour.

NOTE: In
order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to
quote
your reference and batch numbers in all correspondences with us,
furthermore,
should there be any change of address, please do inform our Co-ordinator
as soon
as possible. Yahoo lottery is a free service that does not require you
to be a
Yahoo! Registered
user.

An original copy of your lucky
winning ticket and your deposit certificate will be sent to you by
Administrative Remittance Operation
Manager.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Once again
from all members of our staff and thank you for being a part of our
International Promotions program of the New Year.We wish you continued
good
fortunes.

Yours
Sincerely,

Dr.
Raymond Hisashi. Vice President Yahoo! Lotto
Org.

Mrs. Tina Akira. Online
Coordinator.

Copyright? 1994-2010 The Yahoo-Thailand
Internet
Promotions. All rights reserved. Terms of Service -
Guidelines.

Congratulations On Your
Winnings

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam