419 scam: "AUSTRALIA LOTTERY INC." <info@australialotteryinc.com> Dear: Lucky 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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
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!
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +2347039545254
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.
- barry.thomas1@hotmail.com (Hotmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "AUSTRALIA LOTTERY INC." <info@australialotteryinc.com>
Reply-To: rahim.ibrahim@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 18:11:04 GMT
Subject: Dear: Lucky Winner,

Dear: Lucky Winner,

This is to inform you that you have won prize money of THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND BRITISH POUNDS STERLING (£300,000.00) for the 2010 Lottery promotion which was organized by AUSTRALIA LOTTERY INC. for the introduction of the new YAHOO! BETA MAIL, which all YAHOO! Users are required to switch onto.

Australia Lottery Organization arrange and gather all the e-mail addresses of people who are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo!, Hotmail and other e-mail providers. Only FIVE (5) candidates are selected as winners annually through Electronic Balloting System (EBS) without the candidate applying. We congratulate you for being one of the people selected.

NOTE: - Your e-mail address that won the prize for you falls within our African representative office in Nigeria as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of £300,000.00 will be released to you from this regional Nigeria Bank, Australia Lottery Prize Award must be claimed not later than 14 days from date of Draw Notification after the Draw date in which Prize has won. Note: Any prize not claimed within this period (14 days) will be forfeited.

These are your identification numbers:
Batch number................YBM-EBS-390AF
Ref number................... YBM-EBS-719AF
Winning number............YBM-EBS-798AF

To claim your prize money, you are required to contact Dr. Barry Thomas with your Batch number, Ref.number and Winning number through his email below

AGENT NAME: Dr.Barry Thomas
Tel: +234-7039545254
Email: barry.thomas1@hotmail.com

You are advised to send the following information to your Claims Agent to facilitate the release of your fund to you.
1. First name...............................
2. Last Name...............................
3. Country...................................
4. Contact Address......................
5. Telephone Number...................
6. fax Number.............................
7. Marital Status..........................
8. Occupation..............................
9. My Date of birth......................
10. Sex.......................................
Select how you want the Winning Prize money to be paid to you:
MODE OF PAYMENT OF PRIZE:
(1) Cheque Delivery To Your Address
(2) Bank to Bank via Account Transfer

WARNING!
Do not tell people about your Prize Award until your money is successfully handed over to you to avoid disqualification that may arise from double claim.

You may also receive similar e-mails from people portraying to be other Organizations or Australia Lottery Inc. This is solely to collect your personal information from you and lay claim over your winning. In event that you receive any e-mail similar to the notification letter that was sent to you, kindly delete it from your mail box and give no further correspondence to such person or body.

Australia Lottery International (A.L.I) shall not be held responsible for any loss of fund arising from the above mentioned.

Copyright 1994-2010 the AUSTRALIA LOTTERY
All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guideline

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam