419 scam: "Melvin Clark"<melvinclark@yahoo.com> YAHOO AND MSN AWARDS CENTER.

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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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million british pounds" (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)
- "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)
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.
- hans_fredrick@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Melvin Clark" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <melvin.gclark@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2011 14:46:05 +0300
Subject: YAHOO AND MSN AWARDS CENTER.

YAHOO AND MSN AWARDS CENTER.

BRITISH MICROSOFT E-MAIL SELECTED AWARD FROM HEAD OFFICES (UK) LONDON ON THE MONTH OF AUG, 2011
British Microsoft Award
Headquarters: Customer service
68 Newman Street. City,
London. Country,
United Kingdom. Postal/Zip Code,
W1T 3EF

ATTN: DEAR WINNER,

YOUR EMAIL ADDRESSES HAVE JUST WON A YAHOO & WINDOWS LIVE PRIZE MONEY OF (ONE MILLION BRITISH POUNDS STERLING)
(GBP 1,000,000.00) IN THE BEGINNING OF YEAR 2011 AWARD PROMOTION.

WINNERS EMERGE THROUGH RANDOM SELECTION OF
ALL ACTIVE EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS ONLINE. TEN ARE SELECTED YEARLY TO BENEFIT FROM THIS PROMOTION.
Payment of Prize and Claim.

WINNERS ARE TO BE PAID IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS/HER SETTLEMENT CENTER. THIS PRIZE AWARD MUST BE CLAIMED IN NOT LATER THAN 30 DAYS FROM DATE OF DRAW NOTIFICATION AFTER WHICH UNCLAIMED PRIZES ARE CANCELLED.

WINNER NO: 4
these are your identification numbers
Batch Number: YPB/08/APA-43658
Reference Number: YPN560992008
Award File Security code: UK/+ QU34005
These numbers fall within the United Kingdom file. Thus, you are requested to contact our fiduciary agent in United Kingdom and send your winning identification numbers to him.

CONTACT INFORMATION OF OUR AGENT IN UNITED KINGDOM NAME DR. HANS FREDRICK

Mobile Phone: +44 703183776

E-mail: hans_fredrick@yahoo.co.uk

Kindly send the following information to your claim agent to facilitate the release of your fund immediately.
1. Full name.
2. Country
3. Telephone Number
4. Fax Number
5. Sex
6. Date of birth
7. Marital Status
8. E-Mail Address:
9. Occupation
10. Contact Address
11. Amount Won

Once your agent acknowledges receipt of this required detail, transfer would commence.
CONGRATULATIONS!! ONCE AGAIN.
YOURS IN SERVICE.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam