419 scam: "The Russian Foundation" <info@grant.com> GRANT/DONATION

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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:
- "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "sec_lucasgiovanni2010@w.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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: "The Russian Foundation" <info@grant.com>
Reply-To: sec_lucasgiovanni2010@w.cn
Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2010 12:59:43 +0800
Subject: GRANT/DONATION

The Russian Foundation for basic research, would
like to notify you that you have been chosen by the board of trustees
as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your own
personal, educational, and business development.

Kindly note that you will only be chosen to receive the donation once,
which means that subsequent yearly donation will not get to you again.
Take time and thought in spending the donation wisely on something that
will last you a long time. Recipients are only eligible to be awarded
this donation once.

You are required to contact the Executive Secretary below, for
qualification document you will be given your donation pin
number, which you will use in collecting the funds. Please
endeavor to quote your Qualification numbers (N-222-6647, E-910-56)
in all discussions.

You are required to assist in the documentation of your
donation by filling the requested information stated in
the form below.

DONATION DOCUMENTATION FORM.

Kindly provide all required information.----FULL
NAMES___ ----ADDRESS____ ----NATIONALITY___ ----
STATE___----COUNTRY____----TEL____---FAX___----AGE/DATE OF
BIRTH___ -SEX___----MARITALSTATUS____ ----OCCUPATION___

----IN A BRIEF EXPLANATION, HOW DO YOU INTEND TO USE YOUR
DONATION FUNDS IN IMPROVING YOUR STANDARD OF LIVING.

Executive Sec. Mr.Lucas Giovanni
Email: sec_lucasgiovanni2010@w.cn
Regards.
Andjella Anzhela

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam