419 scam: "PENNSYLVANIA LOTTERY"<dswinehart@stewartsigns.com> WINNING NOTIFICATION!!

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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")
- "hundred thousand united state 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)
- "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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
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.
- +447035945401 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- +447035945399 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "PENNSYLVANIA LOTTERY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <pennsylvania-lottery@bondonline-services.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:14:02 +0100
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION!!

WINNING NOTIFICATION!!

PENNSYLVANIA LOTTERY! Mail gives members random cash prizes today, your account is randomly selected as one of 10 top winners accounts who will get cash prizes from us, meanwhile we are happy to inform you that you have won a prize money of (Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars) ($500,000.00) in the ongoing Pennsylvania Lottery April 2010.

PENNSYLVANIA LOTTERY collects all e-mail addresses are automatically selected through eletronic computer ballot system, in your e-mail address is one of the TEN(10) lucky winners were selected this month as our winners through electronic balloting System without the winner applying,we are congratulating you for been one of the people selected.
This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have operational base.
Further more your details(e-mail address) falls within our representative office in London, as indicated and will be release to you from this regional branch office.

Below are your identification numbers:
Ticket Number.......................EX 3 QS
Batch Number..........MFI/06/APA-43658
Winning number..................GH 45 XZ

Contact Person:
Mr.Charles Smith
Tel:+44 703 594 5401

To begin your claims, kindly contact our fiduciary company agent with your Informations and your batch numbers as indicated:

Full Name: __________________________
Gender:_____________________________
Date of Birth:________________________
Age:_________________________________
Marital Status: ______________________
Nationality: _________________________
Occupation__________________________
Home Address: ______________________
Mobile Telephone:___________________
Fax : ________________________________
Ticket Number: _____________________
Amount Won:________________________
E-mail Address: _____________________

As soon as you contact the Claims Agent ,he will advise you on what to do in order to get your prize.

WARNING!
Winners shall not exceed 14 days from date of Draw Notification to claim their money. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited.
For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to you.
This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participant or unofficial personnel.
Congratulations once more.

Yours Sincerely,
Daniel C. Hassell
Tele: +44 703 594 5399
(Pennsylvania Lottery Coordinator)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam