419 scam: "Internet Promotion" <Winningpro@promotion.com> Please reply Urgently

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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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- ",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)
- ",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)
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: "Internet Promotion" <Winningpro@promotion.com>
Reply-To: prudenttrustt@aim.com
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2013 23:15:34 +0900
Subject: Please reply Urgently

INTERNET EMAIL PROMOTION INTERNATIONAL
PROMOTING INTERNET USAGE OVER THE GLOBE

INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
Internet (B.V) Boeing Avenue 48 9459. PE Schiphol-Rijk.

Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice, the results of INTERNET
EMAIL PROMOTION INT. We are happy to inform you that your email have
emerged a winner under the second Category, Participants were selected
through a computer ballot system drawn from 2,500,000 email addresses of
Individuals and companies from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe,
Middle East, and Oceania as part of our International Promotions Program.

Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number 845748934210-013,
consequently won in the Second Category. You have therefore been awarded a
lump sum pay out of 470,000 (Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand Euros),
which is the winning payout for Category B winners. This is from the total
prize money 2,000,000 Euros shared between the 3 winners in this category.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Your fund is now deposited with the paying Bank. In your best interest to
avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind, we request that you keep
the entire details of your award strictly from public notice until the
process of transferring your claims has been completed, and your funds
remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid
double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants/non-participants of
this program.

Please contact your claims agent immediately for due processing and
remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice: To
file for your claim, please contact your agent.

You are advised to contact the agents by email within a week of receiving
this notice.
Failure to do so may warrant disqualification.
NOTE: For easy reference and identification, you are to quote your ticket
number on you reply to the claims agent.

Sincerely Yours,
Mr. Martin van Hemert.

THE PROMOTION COORDINATOR,
INTERNET INT.

N.B: Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result
to disqualification.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam