419 scam: "Mr. Michael D. Eze" <engm.dougl1@virgilio.it> Email Won

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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.
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: "Mr. Michael D. Eze" <engm.dougl1@virgilio.it>
Reply-To: michael_deze@yahoo.fr
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 23:28:21 +0900
Subject: Email Won

SKYE BANK PLC
3,AKIN ADESOLA STREET,
VICTORIA ISLAND,

Dear Sir,

The management of Skye Bank Nigeria Plc wishes to congratulate and
inform you that your email address has won $1.5M USD.Your

Email address was among the winning Email in the just concluded
Microsoft Email ballot lottery in West Africa.The selection

process was done through a Computerized selection system from a
database of over 2,750,000 Email addresses drawn from all the

continents of the globe.No ticket was sold or bought,but each
individual play coupon representing an Email ID was used.This

promo is basically aimed at encouraging/promoting the use of internet
for Education,Health,Medical and scientific research

within your community and across the globe.Hence,you are to contribute
a reasonable part of your cash award/Donation to the

betterment of humanity.

However after review and certification of your payment file by the IMF
and the CBN,Skye Bank Nigeria Plc has been assigned to

make payment to you.Furthermore after a meeting with United Nations
official,we came to a conclusion that we have to

immediately pay the sum of $1.5m USD to you as your winning via ATM
Visa Card.Should you adhere to our directives,your

payment will be made within 24 hours.You are required to reconfirm
your information for verification and
immediate payment.

1.Full names
2 Address
3 Direct telephone number.
We shall proceed with your payment as soon as the above information
are received.

Best Regards,
Michael Eze
Director ATM Swift Card
Foreign Operation Dept
Skye Bank Plc

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam