419 scam: "Visa USA Inc." <adriana.adriatic@yahoo.pt> CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE AWARDED PRIZE OF $2,000,000.00

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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:
- "million united states dollars" (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)
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.
- www.visalo700@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Visa USA Inc." <adriana.adriatic@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: "Visa USA Inc." <www.visalo700@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 11:29:32 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE AWARDED PRIZE OF $2,000,000.00

Visa USA Inc.2000 Purchase StreetPurchase, NY 10577USA.Â Dear Lucky Winner!Â Congratulations, we humbly wish to inform you that you have awarded prize of Two Million United States Dollars ($2,000,000.00) for the yearly lottery promotion which was organized and sponsored by Visa USA Inc. and Microsoft International for the introduction of the new visa credit cards gold covers.Â The Visa USA Incorporated and Microsoft! team arrange and gather all the e-mail addresses of people that are active on-line, among the billion that subscribed to all email addresses and others, we only select Nine (9) candidates per annually as our winners through Electronic Balloting System (EBS) without the candidate been applying. This visa USA Inc. - credit cards lottery was aimed to help families and communities with the current global crisis and also aimed to help reduce poverty in the global world.Â This visa USA lottery prize must be claimed not later than fifteen (15) working days from date of draw notification after the draw date in which prize has won. Stay Connected, any prize not claimed within this period (15 days) will be forfeited.Â Contact Person: -------- Mr. Donald Thompson (Administrator)E-mail Address: ---------Â www.visalo700@gmail.comToll-Free Number: ---------------- 1800-200-3515Â Kindly fill the below form and contact your claims administrator via e-mail /phone for the 48hours delivery of your winners certificate and your Co-Branded visa credit cards gold cover of Two Million United States Dollars ($2,000,000.00). Find out more, you are therefore advised to send the following information to the above email address to facilitate and process your winning prize payment with the appointed paying bank.Â Ticket code No #: 51345810Lucky winner's No#: 233239474922Reference code No#: D7627270008VCLRegistration code No#: NL810254207B01Â Please follow our guidelines outlined at the body of this message.Send your Identification numbers/your personal information immediately to our processing office.Â Full Names: ___________________________________________Contact Address: ______________________________________Cell Phone: ___________________________________________Country of Residence: __________________________________Â Quote your complete names, winning amount and your direct cell/home phone number so that they can honor your request.
All winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her settlement center, now take the next step and claim your prize and say thanks to Visa USA Incorporated. *This offer is only available for you this season, a valid ATM Visa card would be sending to you through our paying bank, you will automatically be paid at instant moment before the end of the 15days period. Contact your claims administrator at:Â www.visalo700@gmail.com
Make Yourself at Home.Â Make the Visa USA Inc. - credit cards your go, power to you.Â Â© 1994 - 2014 Visa USA Incorporated - Credit Cards. All rights reserved.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam