419 scam: "British Telecomms Plc."<commsbt1@live.co.uk> 2010 BT-UK e-Mail Draw Result.

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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.
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: "British Telecomms Plc." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <commsbt@w.cn>
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2010 01:28:53 -0700
Subject: 2010 BT-UK e-Mail Draw Result.

New Page 1

British Telecommunication London (BT-UK Lottery).
BT Centre, 81 Newgate Street,
London, EC1A 7AJ, United Kingdom.

Hello: Winner,

We happily announce to you the release of British Telecommunication London Plc Lottery Draw result of the Year 2010 BT-UK Lottery draws held on Monday 23rd of August 2010, Lotto 3/10 in Newgate London, United Kingdom.

You are kindly Advice to Open the Attached Result, which is in PDF Format as you have been SELECTED among the 10 1st Prize winners of the 2010 Draw.

Yours Sincerely,
Dr. Mark Quartermaine.
Managing Director BT-UK.

Due to possible mix up of some numbers and email contacts, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by some participants of this program.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam