419 scam: "Dave & Angela Dawes"<scottyc70@optusnet.com.au> Congratulations

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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:
- "million 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)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Dave & Angela Dawes" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <daveangeladawes@aol.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 03:30:42 -0600
Subject: Congratulations

Hello

I know that this letter may be a very big surprise to you, I came across your email contact from my personal search, it will interest you to know that I and my wife Angela played the lottery last year and won a total of £101,000,000.00 Million Pounds sterling in the Euro Lottery Sweepstakes held in October 2011 and as a result, we vowed to make 20 lucky people millionaires before the end of this year. We decided to randomly select three (3) email from your country as beneficiary's because Angela was born in Belgium. This is a charity donation and a life time opportunity for you also to help the needy and less privileged around you.

Before you go on, please visit the web page below, which will confirm our news and promise.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8820740/101m-lottery-jackpot-winners-Dave-and-Angela-Dawes-to-give-millions-to-friends-and-family.html#

You see, we have actually settled the needs of our immediate family members but we have also decided to donate the sum of £20,000,000.00 Million Pounds sterling to other individuals around the world in need, the local fire department, the Red Cross, Haiti, hospitals in London where people undergo cancer treatment, and some other organizations in Asia and Europe that fight cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes. The donation will be disbursed to you by our authorized payout bank to this charity donation scheme.

Now to facilitate the disbursement process of the funds [ £1,000,000.00 Pounds Sterling ] which have been donated solely to you, please email us your full names, address, telephone number and a valid identification of your self as soon as you can so that we can forward you details and donation cheque over to the payout bank tomorrow. We are hoping that you will be able to use the money wisely and judiciously over there in your country. We will employ you to do what you can to alleviate the level of poverty in your region and also try to enhance the standard of living of as many people as you can because that is the only objective of donating this money to you in the first place.

Thank you for your time and we anticipate your earliest response.

Regards,

Dave & Angela Dawes.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam