419 scam: "FACEBOOK LOTTO"<info@facebook.org> FACEBOOK LOTTO WINNER

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:
- "million united state 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)
- ",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)
- "united state dollar" (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!

Fraud email example:

From: "FACEBOOK LOTTO" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <officeinformation03@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:20:30 +0100
Subject: FACEBOOK LOTTO WINNER

CONGRATULATIONS FROM FACE BOOK!

We are pleased to inform you of the result that just concluded annual Final
draws held on the (12th Nov 2011) by Face book group in cash Promotion to
encourage the usage of Face book world wide, your javascript:void(0)Name was
among the 20 Lucky winners who won $1,000.000.00USD (One Million united
state dollars) each on the Face book group promotion Award Attached to ticket
number (5647600545189) and Ref No (2551256002/244) Serial Number (55643451907).

The online draws was Conducted by a random selection of email you where picked
by an Advanced automated random computer search from the Face book in other To
claim your $1,000.000.00USD the lottery program which is a new innovation by
Face book, is aimed at saying A BIG THANK YOU to all our users for making Face
book their number one means to connect,communicate,relate and hook up with
their families and friends over the years.

This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted
abuse of this program by some participants and Scam artists, All participants
were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000
companies' and 30,000,000 individuals' email addresses and names from all over
the world. This promotional program takes place every three years.You have to
be Rest assured that this is Real and Legal..and there are Some Scam artists
around...Thanks to the FBI...216 of them have been arrested... The software
corporation to encourage some few individuals with web site and email
addresses promoted this lottery. Your name was selected in a raffle that was
made 12th of November 2011 so we need your fast response so that we can
proceed with the delivery of your fund .

You are required to contact our dispatch dept via email
with information below in order for us
to complete your winning certificate and for further information regarding the
disbursement of your lottery win.

FULL NAME:
FULL CONTACT ADDRESS:
MOBILE PHONE NUMBER:
OCCUPATION:
MARITAL STATUS AND AGE:
NATIONALITY / COUNTRY:
TICKET NUMBER:
REF NUMBER:
SERIAL NUMBER:
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS:

All winnings must be claimed not later than 25th of November, 2011. After this
date, all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake. To avoid
unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your reference
and batch numbers in all correspondences. Furthermore, if there is any change
in email address please contact us on time Note: Do not reply to these Face
Book Account for security purpose reply to the payment department in charge
and if you are not interested please do not bother to reply. To enable him
issue you certificate of winning.

CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN FROM FACE BOOK!

Thanks,
Regards,
Patrick Widen
Promo Coordinator.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam