419 scam: "Power Ball International" <postmaster@westvirginiawbc.org> YOU ARE A 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:

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:
- ",500,000" (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)
- "power_ball@w.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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: "Power Ball International" <postmaster@westvirginiawbc.org>
Reply-To: power_ball@w.cn
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:30:05 -0400
Subject: YOU ARE A LUCKY WINNER

POWER BALL COMPANY AWARD DEPARTMENT
POWER BALL INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS:
CUSTOMER SERVICE/AWARD DEPT.
Ref No:FI/550/05ES
Batch No:6677-05734

Dear Lucky Winner,
We happily announce to you the draw of the Power Ball lottery
International programs .Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:5 21
22 41 49 15 . You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
1,500,000. 00(One MillionFive Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds).All
participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through
computer draw system and extracted from over 200,000 companies.To process
your claim, contact our financial controller with the details below.
**************************************************
FINANCIAL CONTROLLER
Name: ANDY SMITH
Email: power_ball@w.cn
**************************************************
You are adviced to provide the following details below to your claims
department, and choose an option of receiving your winning as the
beneficiary
FULL NAMES:
SEX
AGE:
ADDRESS:
COUNTRY
PHONE NUMBER:
MARITAL STATUS:
OCCUPATION:
In view of this, you are to choose an option of receiving your winning as
the beneficiary. ( 1) COURIER DELIVERY ( 2) BANK TRANSFER

Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program.
Yours faithfully,
Mr. Andy Smith.
(Lottery Coordinator)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam