419 scam: "ecowasorganisation" <info@ecowas.com> Ecowas Organization

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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 states 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)
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
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.
- ecowasorganisation.organizatio@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "ecowasorganisation" <info@ecowas.com>
Reply-To: ecowasorganisation.organizatio@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2011 08:55:31 -0300
Subject: Ecowas Organization

Ecowas Organization
Concern winner:

This is to notify you that you have been chosen By the Board of
trustees of the above International charity organization
as one of the final recipients of a Cash Grant/Donation for your
own personal,education and business development Ecowas Organization
as established in 1975 by the Multi-Million groups was conceived with the
objective of Human Growth, Educational and Community development.
In line with the 28 years anniversary program this year the Ecowas
Organization in conjunction with the United Nations(UN) and the european
union,is giving out a yearly donation of One Hundred Million United
States Dollars as specific Donations/Grants to 150 lucky international
recipients worldwide in different categories for their personal
Business development and uplift of their enviroment.

These funds are freely given to you to use for your business
educational and personal development, and at leats 30% to be used by
you to develop a part of your enviroment, as this is a yearly program,
which is a measure of universal development strategy, and eradication
of poverty.

Please kindly note that you are not the only beneficiary
in your country this year, and your country is not the only country
that is benefiting from this donation, as beneficiaries have been
chosen
from countries in all the continents.The idea of this donation is that
within ten years from now, there
will be notable richness among many unusual people around the world.

This will give many people the opportunity to get their lives to a
stage where they had always wanted.
Kindly note that you will onlybe chosen to receive the donation once,
which means that subsequent
yearly donation will not get to you again, so its your choice to spend
the donation wisely on something that will last you a long time. And
please do not bother following up this email, if you have benefited
from this donation in previous years.

You are required to expeditiously Contact the Executive Secretary
below filling in and submitting the necessary processing information to
him for qualification documentation your Qualification Number is
(N-222-6747, E-900-56).

VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM.FULL
1.NAMES:-----------------------------------
2.HOME ADDRESS:----------------------------
3.SEX:-------------------------------------
4.AGE:-------------------------------------
5.MARITAL STATUS:--------------------------
6.OCCUPATION:------------------------------
7.E-MAIL ADDRESS:--------------------------
8.TELEPHONE NUMBER:------------------------
9.CITY:------------------------------------
10.STATE:----------------------------------
11.COUNTRY---------------------------------
12.Qualification Numbers ------------------

Executive Secretary: Mr Amar Sanisu.

Email: ecowasorganisation.organizatio@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam