419 scam: "Official National Freelotto Week"<admin@admins.com> RE: Write back soon for claim.

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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:
- ",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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Official National Freelotto Week" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ash11mail@rocketmail.com>
Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2013 19:50:26 -0000
Subject: RE: Write back soon for claim.

Official National Freelotto Weekly Draws
ticket number "099-22-04-552
Winning Numbers: #4 13 33 39 55 3
Batch Number 010/04/EUXP
Reference EU/8364x6/10

Dear Beneficiary Winner,

This sound like Joke and fake to many people but after claim of funds they congratulate us!! Your E-mail ID has Won you $2,000,000.00 USD in the on-going National Freelotto. Your Email Address was selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 25,000 company individual Email Addresses from Australia, New Zealand, North America,South America, Europe, Asia and Africa as part of International Promotions Program. This promo is the 1st of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public. Your Email Address was attached to a ticket number "099-22-04-552". Your Batch Number 010/04/Euxp, and Reference EU/8364x6/10.

Write back soon for claim.

For security reasons you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our
precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by unscrupulous elements. Please be warned!

regards,
Dr. Barry Stephen
{Online Promo Co-ordinator}
License Number: BS1194

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam