419 scam: "Mrs. Bessel Harris"<jerry@looksofatlanta.com> RE: Congratulations {$2,500,000.00}

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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:
- "hundred thousand us 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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "fredwills25@admin.in.th" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Bessel Harris" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fredwills25@admin.in.th>
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08.14.59 +0100
Subject: RE: Congratulations {$2,500,000.00}

Attention: Dear User Of The Internet

How are you today? We hope this mail meets you in a perfect condition. This is a total cash prize of US {$2,500,000.00} Two Million Five Hundred Thousand US Dollars, given to the first Five(5) people who will be compensated in this world internet programs.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through computer draw system and extracted from over 700.000 companies. We are using this opportunity to thank you for using the internet daily.

Due to your effort, using internet programs indoor and in your office, We want to compensate you and show our gratitude to you with the sum of {$500,000.00} Five Hunred Thousand US Dollars, We have arranged your payment through our swift card centers, which is the latest instruction from International Monetary Fund Reconciliation Office.

The card center will send you an ATM DEBIT CARD which you will use to withdraw your money in any ATM machine, Banks and Union Pay Credit outlets in the world, You are hereby selected as an honor for this payment approval, which you are to acknowledge the receipt of this mail in returning the required below to the Logistic Department by email listed below.

The name and contact address of Mr.Fred Williams is as follows;

Compensation Office and Logistics Vaults

Contact Agent: Mr. Fred Williams

E-mail: fredwills25@admin.in.th

Thanks and God bless you and your family.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Yours Faithfully,

Mrs. Bessel Harris

International Online Lottery Co-ordinator.

©2011 World Internet Programs

NOTE:Kindly be informed that recipients shall be liable to all cost arising for the delivery of the ATM DEBIT CARD.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam