419 scam: Pierre Omidyar <pomidyar@charity.org> Congrats Approved Recipient,You have been Chosen#

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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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- p.omidyar@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: Pierre Omidyar <pomidyar@charity.org>
Reply-To: p.omidyar@aol.com
Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 20:19:39 +0200
Subject: Congrats Approved Recipient,You have been Chosen#

Greetings to you and your family.
This email will come to you as a surprise because for me also to write thi=
s email is a surprise to me.
In a million years, I never thought i would do something like this.
My Name is Pierre Omidyar, Below is a Link of me and what i do.
http://www.forbes.com/profile/ pierre-omidyar/
I have been giving my wealth away for a while now to various Charities and=
Causes i really care about but recently i had a dream which i wont go much=
into and i decided i needed to be more personal with giving my wealth away.
I want to touch ordinary people in a way that has never been done before.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ clareoconnor/2010/09/23/ pierre-omidyar-ridic=
ulous- rich-and-giving-it-all-away-2/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ 2011/10/20/ebay-founder- pierre-omidyar
So i decided i was going to contact a few people via their emails which i =
paid for from a Marketing Firm online.
If you happen to receive this email and you read this email, I am giving y=
ou $1.3 Million.
Yes you might say this is too good to be true, Yes it is.
But if you reply, You will be paid $1.3 Million.
This is my personal journey to fulfill my life, I hope you accept this spe=
cial gift from me and my family.
Please confirm receipt of this email to my below email address.
Kind Regards,
Pierre Omidyar
p.omidyar@aol.com

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam