419 scam: "FROM THE DESK OF ESPN STAR CRICKET AWARD)" <info@espn.com> ESPN STAR CRICKET 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:

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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- ",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)
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "espnclaimdepartment@live.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "espnclaimdepartment@live.com" (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: "FROM THE DESK OF ESPN STAR CRICKET AWARD)" <info@espn.com>
Reply-To: espnclaimdepartment@live.com
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:22:08 -1200
Subject: ESPN STAR CRICKET ORGANIZATION

FROM THE DESK OF ESPN STAR CRICKET AWARD.
ESPN Head Office
Registered office:
3 Queen Caroline Street,
NIGERIA., W6 9PE.
Company No: 4620511.

Dear Email Owner,

This E-mail is to officially inform you that your E-mail Address has been
verified and pronounced as the lucky Winner Of Â£1,000,000.00 GBP, in the
2012 Award By (ESPN Star Cricket Draw Promotion, We wish to congratulate
you over your E-mail Address success in this financial bailout plan. Your
E-mail Address emerged as one of ten final recipients of this Cash
Grant/Donation to salvage your finances and to develop your community.
This cash grant is a gift you and you would never be required to pay it
back.

This financial bailout plan is funded by Microsoft Corporation/Yahoo
Incorporated, United Nations Agencies, Economic Development Organizations
and Regional Unions which include the African Union (AU), Asia Cooperation
Dialogue (ACD), European Union (EU), Union of South American Nations
(UNASUR), North American Union (NAU), etc., in an effort to reduce the
impact of food and financial crisis around the world. The leaders of these
organizations by in conjunction with ESPN STAR CRICKET AWARD held a
meeting in NIGERIA, and made donations for this programme. We were engaged
to carry out the task of conducting the E-mail Address balloting and to
subsequently pay winners.

Note that all participantsâ€™ E-mail Address were selected randomly from
E-mail Address companies from all over countries of the world through a
random sampling and your E-mail Address is attached to file reference
number (ESC-P038/C098Q/02/LTY) Batch number (TWN772).that emerged as one
of the lucky numbers that won the sum of (One million Great British
Pounds) Â£1,000,000.00 GBP.

Our method of payment is through A Demand Bank Draft that would be issued
In your favour so that you can easily en-cash it in your country. All you
have to do now is to provide us with the information below to enable the
management of our company issue you the Bank Draft in your favour. You are
required to fill the verification & funds release information below.

1. Full Name:
2. Nationality:
3. Contact Address:
4. Pin code
5. Mobile/Tel Number:
6. Marital Status:
7. Occupation:
8. Date of birth:
9. Sex:
10. File Reference Number:
11. Winning E-Mail:
12. Have You Won Before: Yes Or No? .........

For claims of your winning funds you are advice to send us your
information via email below:
Email:espnclaimdepartment@live.com

As a security measure, you are required to keep your winning information
confidential until you have made your claim. This is mainly to avoid
putting up double claims with your Email Address which will result to the
cancellation of your cash grant. On behalf of myself and all staff of ESPN
STAR CRICKET ORGANIZATION, I say congratulations once again.

Your sincerely,
Mr.lucky Smith.
(NIGERIA - Coordinator Claim Department)
Email: espnclaimdepartment@live.com
ESPN Star Cricket Draw Promotion.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam