419 scam: "FaceBook"<fb@noreply.com> CONGRATULATIONS FROM FACEBOOK

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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)
- ",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)
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: "FaceBook" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <onlinefaceb00klprogs@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2016 02:57:44 +0430
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS FROM FACEBOOK

FACEBOOK ONLINE INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY FROM: THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT. INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS / PRIZE AWARD. CATEGORY: 2ND (435) 227-5361 CONGRATULATIONS FROM FACEBOOK WE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU OF THE RESULT THAT JUST CONCLUDED ANNUAL FINAL DRAWS HELD ON THE (1ST July 2016) BY THE FACEBOOK GROUP IN CASH PROMOTION TO ENCOURAGE THE USAGE OF FACE BOOK WORLD WIDE, AND YOUR NAME WAS AMONG THE 20 LUCKY WINNERS WHO WON $600.000.00 U.S.D. EACH ON THE FACEBOOK GROUP PROMOTION AWARD ATTACHED TO LUCKY NUMBER (23456895410), TICKET NUMBER (5647600545189), BATCH NUMBER (2551236002/244) AND SERIAL NUMBER (55643451907). THE ONLINE DRAWS WAS CONDUCTED BY A RANDOM SELECTION OF EMAIL YOU WERE PICKED BY AN ADVANCED AUTOMATED RANDOM COMPUTER SEARCH FROM THE FACEBOOK IN OTHER TO CLAIM YOUR $600.000.00 U.S.D THE LOTTERY PROGRAM WHICH IS A NEW INNOVATION BY FACEBOOK, 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. AND 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 100% LEGITMATE..AND THERE ARE SOME SCAM ARTISTS AROUND...THANKS TO THE FBI...216 OF THEM HAVE BEEN ARRESTED... THE SOFTWARE CORPORATION TO ENCOURAGE SOME FEW INDIVIDUALS WITH WEB SITE AND EMAIL ADDRESSES PROMOTED THIS LOTTERY. FULL NAME: FULL ADDRESS: MOBILE PHONE NO: OCCUPATION: MARITAL STATUS: NATIONALITY: LUCKY NUMBER: TICKET NUMBER: BATCH NUMBER:: SERIAL NUMBER: YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS: All winnings must be claimed not later than second week December 2016. and After this date, all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake. To avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in all correspondences. Furthermore, if there is any change in email address please contact us on time THANKS AND MORE CONGRATULATIONS! FACEBOOK © 2016 CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN FROM FACEBOOK COMPANY!!! Thanks, Regards, Patrick Widen Promo Coordinator.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam