419 scam: "Rachael Robertson"<rrtson@aol.com> PLEASE CONFIRM YOUR RESULT

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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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claim 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)
- "we advice you" (this email uses bad English)
- "ffmbel@luckymail.com" (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!
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.
- +32489909169 (Belgium, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Rachael Robertson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ffmbel@luckymail.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:16:19 +0200
Subject: PLEASE CONFIRM YOUR RESULT

Dear Lucky Winner,
We write to inform you of the result of the Sponsor Bingo Lottery program held on 20th April, 2010 in Belgium. Your e-mail address attached to e-ticket number: 4001888707 drew a prize of US$750,000.00
This lucky draw came first in the 2nd Category of the Sweepstake. You will receive the sum of US$750,000.00 from our authorized bank. Because of some mix-up with prizes, including the time limitation placed on the payment of your prize; we advice that you keep all information about this prize confidential until your prize/funds have been paid to you by our bank.
You must adhere to this instruction strictly, to avoid any delay with the release of your prize to you in person. This program has been abused severely in the past, so we are doing our best to eliminate further occurrence of false claims. This sweepstake was conducted under the watchful eyes of 2000 spectators. Your e-mail address was selected and came out first by an e-ballot drawn from 16000 e-mail addresses (personal and corporate e-mail addresses).
This program is funded by the Sponsor Bingo Lottery in conjunction with Microsoft Corporation in the United States of America. With your permission, your e-mail may also be included in our next draw of US$1,000,000 in the last quarter of the year 2010. To file for your claim and in order to avoid unnecessary delays with your claim, please contact our fiduciary claim agent. Please note that your winning prize must be claimed not later than 21 working days. You are to forward the following information/details to our fiduciary agent for the processing of your claim/payment.
James Anderson
Phone: +32489909169
E-mail: ffmbel@luckymail.com
1. Your Name(s)
2. E-ticket Number: 4001888707
3. Prize Lucky Number: 5531060766
4. Reference Number: EU105-721-10
5. Batch Number: 19500622/665

Congratulations.
Rachael Robertson.
Assistant Promotion Coordinator.

***********************************************************************

Note: In accordance with The Sponsor Bingo Lottery policy and regulations, this message is dispatched directly to the recipient only. If you are not the rightful owner of this email address or feel that you have received this message by error, we advice you destroy this copy as you are not authorized to read, print, retain or disseminate any part of it for any reason.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam