419 scam: "Mrs .MaryGary"<hr@leomax.com> CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU HAVE WON £852,810:22 GBP

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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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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.
- wagent@yahoo.com.au (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs .MaryGary" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <wagent67@yahoo.com.au>
Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:57:28 -0700
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU HAVE WON £852,810:22 GBP

DEAR WINNER,

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but
please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your
success in the following official publication of results of the E-mail
electronic online Sweepstakes organized by National-Lottery,in conjunction
with the foundation for the promotion of software products,(F.P.S.) held
on the 30th July, 2012,in United Kingdom. Wherein your electronic email
address emerged as one of the online winning emails in the 1st category
and therefore attracted a cash award of GB£852,810:22 (EIGHT HUNDRED
AND FIFTY TWO THOUSAND, EIGHT HUNDRED AND TEN GREAT BRITISH POUNDS AND
TWENTY TWO PENCE)

Our winners are arranged into four categories with different winning
prizes accordingly in each category. They are arranged in this format
below:

CATEGORY NO.OF WINNERS WINNING PRIZES
1st. 2 £852,810:22 GBP each
2nd. 8 £500,000.00 GBP each
3rd. 13 £250,000.00 GBP each
4th. 27 £100,000.00 GBP each

We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to
contact the processing office immediately upon receipt of this message for
more information concerning the verification, processing and eventual
payment of the above prize to you. It is important to note that your award
information was released with the following particulars attached to it.

(1) Award numbers: UK/22-77-99
(2) Email ticket numbers: Ticket No :5647560054-188
(3) Batch numbers: Batch No:079/020/zp345
(4) The file reference numbers: UK/22-77-99
{5} Serial Numbers:5368/08:

To file for your claim,Please contact your Validating Officer for
VALIDATION of your winning within Twenty-nine working days of this winning
notification. Winnings that are not validated within Twenty-nine working
days of winning notification are termed void and invalid. You are required
to mention the above particulars of your award in every correspondence to
enable the Agent validate your winning.

CONTACT:
*******************************************************************
FOREIGN TRANSFER MANAGER
NAME MR.Philip Adams.
MICROSOFT SECURITY DEPARTMENT(UK).
E-mail:wagent@yahoo.com.au
*******************************************************************

The National-Lottery Internet E-mail lottery Awards is sponsored by our
CEO/Chairman, Bill Gates:and a consortium of software promotion companies.
The Intel Group, Toshiba, Dell Computers and other International
Companies. The National-Lottery internet E-mail draw is held periodically
and is organized to encourage the use of the Internet and promote computer
literacy worldwide.

Once again on behalf of all our staff,CONGRATULATIONS!
Yours faithfully,
Mrs .MaryGary

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam