419 scam: "UNIVERSAL LOTTERY PROMOTION OFFICE"<universalpromotionaward2015@award.com> 2015 WINNING NOTIFICATION, FINAL NOTICE

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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:
- "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million us 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)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
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: "UNIVERSAL LOTTERY PROMOTION OFFICE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <universalpromotionaward2015@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2015 05:59:31 -0700
Subject: 2015 WINNING NOTIFICATION, FINAL NOTICE

FROM: THE DESK OF THE CO-ORDINATOR
JOHN WARNER (UNIVERSAL LOTTERY PROMOTION)
PRIZE AWARD DEPT.
12. DAVID STREET, VICTORIA ISLAND,
LAGOS-NIGERIA.
REF NO: 15/0018/IPD
BATCH NO: EGS/ 22504002/15

ATTN: WINNER.

2015 WINNING NOTIFICATION, FINAL NOTICE.

WE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT AS A RESULT OF OUR RECENT LOTTERY DRAWS HELD. YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS ATTACHED TO TICKET NUMBER: 085-12876077-09 WITH SERIAL NUMBER: 51390-0 DREW LUCKY NUMBERS: 03-05-12-14-18 WHICH CONSEQUENTLY WON IN THE 5TH CATEGORY. YOU HAVE THEREFORE BEEN APPROVED FOR A LUMP SUM PAY OF (ONE MILLION US DOLLARS ONLY) IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE WITH REF: .EGS/3662367114/15.

NOTE THAT ALL PARTICIPANTS IN THIS LOTTERY PROGRAM HAVE BEEN SELECTED RANDOMLY THROUGH A COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM DRAWN FROM OVER 20,000 OFFICIALS AND 30,000,000 INDIVIDUAL EMAIL ADDRESSES FROM ALL SEARCH ENGINES AND WEBSITES,FROM ASIA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, EUROPE, NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA,MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA, AS PART OF OUR INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS PROGRAM.

THIS PROMOTIONAL PROGRAM TAKES PLACE EVERY YEAR, AND IS PROMOTED AND SPONSORED BY EMINENT PERSONALITIES LIKE THE SULTAN OF BRUNEI, SULTAN OF KUWAIT, BILL GATES OF MICROSOFT INC, KING OF SAUDI ARABIA, SOME PRESIDENTS OF THE WORLD, SOME OF THE RICHEST MEN IN THE WORLD AND OTHER CORPORATE ORGANIZATIONS.

THIS IS TO ENCOURAGE THE USE OF THE INTERNET AND COMPUTERS AND ALSO TO IMPROVE THE LEVEL OF EDUCATION (THAT IS TO HELP STUDENTS THAT CAN NOT AFFORD TO PAY FOR THEIR SCHOOL FEES AND OTHER ESSENTIALS THINGS THEY NEED) AND REDUCE THE LEVEL OF POVERTY AMONG YOUTHS AND OLDER PEOPLE WORLDWIDE.

THE DRAWS ARE HELD ONCE IN A YEAR AND DIFFERENT BANKS ARE CHOOSING FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO PAY THE WINNERS, SO AS TO DEVELOP THE INTERNAL BANKING RELATIONSHIP AROUND THE WORLD. YOUR FUND IS NOW DEPOSITED WITH UNION BANK IN LAGOS, NIGERIA FOR SECURITY PURPOSE AND CLARITY, WE ADVISE THAT YOU KEEP YOUR WINNING INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL UNTIL YOUR CLAIMS HAVE BEEN PROCESSED AND YOUR MONEY REMITTED TO YOU. THIS IS PART OF OUR SECURITY PROTOCOL TO AVOID DOUBLE CLAIMS AND UNWARRANTED ABUSE OF THIS PROGRAM BY SOME PARTICIPANTS.

TO BEGIN THE PROCESSING OF YOUR PRIZE YOU ARE TO CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY YOU RECEIVE THIS MAIL, SO THAT YOU CAN RECEIVE YOUR PRIZE AS SOON AS POSSBILE AND YOU ARE ALSO ADVISED TO PROVIDE THE UNDER LISTED INFORMATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE:

1. NAME IN FULL
2. ADDRESS
3. NATIONALITY
4. AGE
5. OCCUPATION
6. PHONE/FAX

CONGRATULATION.

JOHN WARNER
CO-ORDINATOR
(UNIVERSAL LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam