419 scam: "mrsveronicawilliams"<mrsveronicawilliams@yahoo.co.jp> WINNINGS NOTIFICATION OF US$4.2M

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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:
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
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.
- +447045728634 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
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.
- mrsveronicawilliams09@yahoo.co.jp (Yahoo, Japan; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "mrsveronicawilliams" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrsveronicawilliams09@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 12:27:17 +0100
Subject: WINNINGS NOTIFICATION OF US$4.2M

WINNINGS NOTIFICATION OF US$4.2M

We happily announce to you the draw of the Uk-Lotto Sweepstakes Lottery International programs held in Bangkok-Thailand on the 27th of May, 2010.Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:07-12-23-26-29-44 which subsequently won you the lottery in the first category. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of ?2,367,834(Two million, three hundred and sixty seven thousand, eight hundred and thirty four British Pounds sterling) which is approximately USD4.2m, from total cash prize of ?23,678,340 was shared amongst the first Ten (10) lucky winners in this category.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 companies.

Contact Agent: Mrs. Veronica Williams (Director of Operations and Logistics) Email address: mrsveronicawilliams09@yahoo.co.jp

To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your full names, telephone number, Age and occupation, Winnings numbers [such as batch, ref, serial and lucky winning number], your country and address where you want to receive your winnings Fund in your contact mail to Mrs. Veronica Williams.

Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program and thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program. For safety measures and to avoid fraudulent claims you are advice to keep all about your winnings information and notification confidential and away from all third parties till your check arrives your address.

Online Co-coordinator/Notification Officer
Sweepstakes International Program.
Mr Ray Cole,
Telephone: +4470457 28634

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam