419 scam: "Facebook" <rewards@director.facbook.com> Dear Facebook User

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:
- "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)
- ",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" <rewards@director.facbook.com>
Reply-To: helena.edner@admin.in.th
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 05:33:34 +0530 (IST)
Subject: Dear Facebook User

Dear Facebook user,

The Facebook team wishes to inform you, and congratulate you for emerging
as our 2013 Facebook Rewards winner.

The Facebook Rewards program is done every two years. You have been
selected randomly by the Facebook internet draw administrator. The draw
administrator is an automated program, which selects Facebook users
randomly.

You have been approved to claim a total cash prize of $1,000,000 (One
million dollars) See below for your winning details:

Winning amount: $1,000,000 USD (One Million dollars)
Batch number: TFB 12329317635197437-FAB/2013
Ref number: TFB 29501870209289/ES 877

The Facebook Rewards program is proudly sponsored by the Facebook CEO and
management. Your Rewards Funds shall be transferred to you in your
country, where your Facebook account was registered.

In order to claim your Facebook cash prize, kindly contact the Facebook
Rewards program director on the following email:
facebook-rewards@director.in.th

You are required to complete the below form:

Your name:
Your nationality:
Your present country of residence:
Your age:
Tel number:
Your occupation:
How long have you used Facebook?:

Kindly complete the above form, and send it to the Facebook Rewards
program director with the below details

Contact Person: Todd Jackson (Rewards Program director)
Email: facebook-rewards@director.in.th
Department: Rewards Funds, Release Department.
Position: DIRECTOR, Facebook Rewards program.

Once your details are received in the email provided above, the program
director will contact you, with information on how you can claim the
Rewards Funds in your present country. The total sum of One Million U.S
dollars ($1,000,000 USD) shall be transferred and paid to you without any
obligation or interrogations.

For your security, you are strongly advised to keep your winning
information confidential, until you have received the winning money. Do
not disclose you winning information to a third party. This is a security
measure to protect you, and to avoid unwarranted abuse of Facebook rewards
program.

Once again, we say congratulations from all members of staff of the
Facebook Team. Ensure to send your feedback or enquiries to Mr. Todd
Jackson, on his email: facebook-rewards@director.in.th

Thank you for using Facebook.

Regards,

Peter Andrew,
Program Coordinator,
Facebook Rewards Program,
2013 Facebook. All rights reserved.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam