419 scam: "VICTORIA ELLEN"<victoriaellen02@gmail.com> Discount promotional 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:
- "the consignment" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
- "diplomatic agent" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- "the diplomat " ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- "a diplomat " ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
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: "VICTORIA ELLEN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <victoriaellen@hotmail.it>
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:52:56 +0200
Subject: Discount promotional winner

Lottery On Demand www.picknplaylotto.com PROMOTION DATE: 1ST APRIL 2012. REFERENCE NUMBER: PNP/0001/27/10 LUCKY NUMBERS : 30, 04,51,09,48,36 Email: victoriaellen@hotmail.it victoriaellen@live.it Dear Valued Customer, We wish to notify you that due to the recent problem we are having in respect of the delivery of your Lottery check parcel, we have come up with a new plan of which we think would be a good idea in delivering your lottery funds to you. We have decided to deposit your lottery check sum of (US 750,000.00). USD into one of the banks here (Banca Di Roma), and we have been notified by the bank that your lottery check will take up to 3 working days to clear starting from , 05/04/2012. With this new idea, we are making arrangement with a reliable diplomat agent who will help us to deliver your lottery funds in consignment to you as soon as it has been cleared by the bank. At this point, we want you to take note that we are not sending your check via our Courier Delivery Company, your Lottery check will be cashed and the funds being deposited into a consignment box for personal delivery to you through a diplomat agent. With this arrangement, you do not have to pay any delivery charges. We will deduct any charges from your Lottery funds and pay the diplomat charges on your behalf. All you need to do is to email us back with the following information. YOUR FULL NAME: VALID CONTACT ADDRESS: MOBILE TELEPHONE NUMBER: NEAREST AIRPORT TO YOUR RESIDENT: SCAN OF YOUR IDENTITY CARD OR PASSPORT: You are also to indicate your preferred date for the delivery of your consignment funds . Your funds will be made available by the bank on the . We need to know the date you need the consignment to be delivered to you by the diplomat agent. IMPORTANT NOTE: I want to officially inform you that the Diplomatic Agent will not be informed of the contents of your consignment for security reasons. This is for the safety of your funds and not to be disclose to any third party. For this reason, the diplomat may be ask by your selected Airport Authority to pay some charges for the clearance and verification purpose. This is were you have to be called upon to do so. This will only take effect as soon as the diplomat reaches the selected Airport you will provide. YOUR SINCERELY, VICTORIA ELLEN

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam