419 scam: "Mr. Brian Smith." <info@unitedkingdom.org> Contact For Your ATM Master Card Of $500,000.00 USDCPŒë¸"

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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million 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)
- "united state of america" (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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Brian Smith." <info@unitedkingdom.org>
Reply-To: <mr.marklee@obesityspark.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2010 08:21:56 -0600
Subject: Contact For Your ATM Master Card Of $500,000.00 USD

Attention: Dear Prominent User of The Internet

How are you today? Hope all is well with you and your family? I hope this mail meets you in a perfect condition. This is from a total cash prize of US$25, 000000.00 Million dollars, given to the first FIFTY (50) people who will be compensated in this world internet programs. All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site Through computer draw system and extracted from over 700.000 companies I am using this opportunity to thank you for using the internet daily.

Due to your effort, using internet programs indoor and in your office, We want to compensate you and show our gratitude to you with the sum of $500, 000.00 Thousand United States Of America Dollars in an international ATM Master Card we have authorized Mr. Mark Lee to assist your in getting your ATM Card across to you.

The name and contact address of Mark Lee is as follows;

COMPENSATION HEAD OFFICE

CONTACT AGENT: MR. MARK LEE

EMAIL: mr.marklee@obesityspark.com

Finally remember that I have forwarded instruction to the Mr. Mark Lee on your behalf to send the ATM Card of Five hundred thousand United State Of America Dollars to you as soon as you contact him without delay.

Please I will like you to accept this token with good faith as this is from the bottom of my heart.

Thanks and God bless you and your family. Hope to hear from you soon.

Mr. Brian Smith.

Presidential Library & Museum

Former Director International Online

Lottery Co-coordinator. © 2010 WORLD

INTERNET PROGRAMS®

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam