419 scam: "FACEBOOK PROMO" <admin@starlight-hotel.co.jp> CONGRATULATION YOUR NAME WAS AMONG THE 20 LUCKY WINNER

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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 state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
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.
- dispatch127@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "FACEBOOK PROMO" <admin@starlight-hotel.co.jp>
Reply-To: dispatch127@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2015 15:19:21 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATION YOUR NAME WAS AMONG THE 20 LUCKY WINNER

- This mail is in HTML. Some elements may be ommited in plain text. -

NEW BOUNDS FROM FACEBOOK PROMOTIONAL ONLINE LOTTERY!
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE CEO
CONGRATULATION YOUR NAME WAS AMONG THE 20 LUCKY WINNER
We are pleased to inform you of the result from the just concluded meeting concerning the annual Final draws held on the (14th October 2015) by FACEBOOK in cash Promotion to encourage the usage of FACEBOOK GROUP world wide, your Name was among the 20 Lucky winners who won $1,000,000.00USD (One Million united state dollars) each on the FACEBOOK GROUP promotion Award Attached to ticket number (0877600545189) and Ref No (551256002244) Serial Number (3451907).
The online draws was Conducted by a random selection of name, you where picked by an Advanced automated random computer search from the FACEBOOK in other To claim your $1,000,000.00 USD the lottery program which is a new innovation by FACEBOOK GROUP, is aimed at saying A BIG THANK YOU to all our users for making FACEBOOK their number one means to connect,communicate,relate and hook up with their families and friends over the years.
You are required to contact our dispatch dept via email... Mr Kelvin Goodluck (
dispatch127@gmail.com
)
With more information below in order for us to complete your winning certificate and for further information regarding the disbursement of your lottery win.
FULL NAME:
FULL CONTACT ADDRESS:
MOBILE PHONE NUMBER:
OCCUPATION:
MARITAL STATUS AND AGE:
NATIONALITY / COUNTRY:
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS:
This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants and Scam artists All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 companies' and 30,000,000 individuals' email addresses and names from all over the world. This promotional program takes place every three years.
You have to be Rest assured that this is real and legal. And there is Some Scam artists around...Thanks to the FBI CYBERUNIT (
james.bcomey@cyberservices.com
) 216 of them have been arrested..so you can foward scam suspicious e-mail to the FBI for further instruction and advise.
FROM THE FACEBOOK PROMO COMPANY 2014.WE WANT TO LET YOU KNOW WE JUST START THE PROMO AND IF YOU RECEIVE ANY MAIL APART FROM OURS NOTE THAT IT IS A SCAM?AND WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT THE FBI ARE IN CHARGE OF THIS PROMO.
CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN FROM FACEBOOK COMPANY!
MARK ZUCKERBERG
CEO FACEBOOK GROUP PROMOTION.
FACEBOOK PROMO © 2015

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam