419 scam: "BRITISH LOTTERY"<mtcn_wu@mycin.net> Sweepstakes Promotion

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million british pounds" (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)
- ",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)
- "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)
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.
- +447024099516 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- +447053491702 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
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.
- pltdatm@aol.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "BRITISH LOTTERY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <pltdatm@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 16 May 2010 15:53:21 -0400
Subject: Sweepstakes Promotion

BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS:
28 TAN FIELD ROAD,
CROYDON, LONDON.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
44-756-336-8063
(24hours)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: PL90-082-00POL

NOTIFICATION

We are pleased to inform you of the final announcement today 16 TH of MAY, 2010 of winners of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY ONLINE PROMO PROGRAMME held on Saturday the 14TH of MAY, 2010. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 688433210875 with Serial number 908BNVOCL drew the lucky numbers: 14-22-25-39-40-47(28) and a bonus number of 24 which subsequently won you the lottery in the second category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £5,000,000.00 GBP (Five Million British Pounds) in cash credited to SBBC-88438-837PL.

This is from a total cash prize of £5,000,000.00 GBP shared amongst the first Ten (10) lucky winners in this category.

This year's Lottery Program Jackpot is the 5th largest ever in the history of Europe Sweepstakes. All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 125,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online.

This promotion takes place weekly. Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your £5,000,000.00 GBP would be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe. Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary

MR.CHARLES MICHAEL
TEL: +44-702-409-9516
FAX: + 44-705-349-1702
E-mail: pltdatm@aol.com

(Form HLP)
REFERENCE NUMBER: UK/9420X2/68
FULL NAME...............................................
COMPANY NAME: ...........................................
FULL ADDRESS:...........................................
SEX:.................................
AGE...................................
OCCUPATION.............................
ANNUAL INCOME...................
TEL.......................FAX................. (If any)
COUNTRY................................
E-MAIL..................................
HAVE YOU A PASSPORT OR LICENCE.............(identification on delivery)
WINNING NUMBER........................
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/ INDIVIDUAL:..................................................................

Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program. Thank you for being part of our online promotional lottery program.

Yours Truly,
Sir. Steven Smith.
Microsoft / Sweepstakes Promotion Coordinator.
Co-coordinator (Online Promo Programme)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam