419 scam: Yahoo Customer Care <paul_mel_spencer@verizon.net> VERIFY YOUR YAHOO MAIL ACCOUNT NOW TO AVOID IF CLOSED

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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.
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: Yahoo Customer Care <paul_mel_spencer@verizon.net>
Reply-To: c.yo8790@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:48:38 -0800 (PST)
Subject: VERIFY YOUR YAHOO MAIL ACCOUNT NOW TO AVOID IF CLOSED

Dear Account User

This Email is from YAHOO MAIL Customer Care and we are sending it
to very YAHOO
EMAIL User
Accounts
Owner for safety. we are having congestions due to the anonymous registration
of YAHOO
accounts
so we are shutting down some of the accounts and your account was among those

VERIFY YOUR YAHOO MAIL ACCOUNT NOW TO AVOID IF
CLOSEDo be deleted. We are sending this email to
you so that you can verify and let us know if you still want to use this
account. If you are still interested please confirm your account by filling the
space below..Your User name, password, date
of birth and your country information would be needed to verify your
account.

Due to the congestion in all YAHOO
users
and removal of all unused YAHOO
Accounts, We would be shutting down all unused Accounts, You will have to
confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Information below after clicking
the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security
reasons.

* Username: ...............
Password: ................
* Date of Birth:............
*
Country Or Territory:.....

After following the instructions in the sheet, your account
will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention
to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences..

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her
account after two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account
permanently.

Sincerely,
The YAHOO
Webmail.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam