419 scam: "CONGRATULATION FROM YAHOO COMPANY THAILAND"<jan@edge2edgeglobal.com> CONGRATULATION FROM YAHOO COMPANY THAILAND

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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:
- "yahoo lottery inc" (no such lottery exists)
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million 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)
- ",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)
- "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 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.
- lottooffice011@yahoo.co.th (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "CONGRATULATION FROM YAHOO COMPANY THAILAND" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <lotto2010@megamail.pt>
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:45:53 +0700
Subject: CONGRATULATION FROM YAHOO COMPANY THAILAND

Microsoft Award Team.
ADDRESS: NOKIA THAILAND OFFICE
105/33 BANGKOK THAI TWR.,
108 SIAM ROAD.,
BANGKOK, 10400,
KINGDOM OF THAILAND.
Batch: 12/25/0340

Dear Winner

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of $2,000,000,00 (Two Million United state dollars) for the Edition 2010 Lottery promotion which is organized by YAHOO LOTTERY INC & WINDOWS LIVE.YAHOO & MICROSOFT WINDOWS, collects all the email addresses of people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail we only select ten people every Month as our winners through electronic balloting System without the winner applying, we Congratulate you for being one of the people selected.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM

You are to contact your Claims Agent with immediate effect to facilitate the protocol of your winning prize before the expiry date of Claim; Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Centre. Prize must be claimed not later than 15 days from date of Draw Notification after the Draw date in which Prize has won. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited. These are your identification numbers:

Batch number....................12/25/0340
Ref number.......................Ref: MSN-L/200-26937
Winning number...................YM09788

You are therefore advised to send the following information to to this office so that we facilitate the claims of your prize to you.

1. Full name.............
2. Country..............
3. Contact Address........
4. Telephone Number.....
5. Marital Status........
6. Occupation.............
7. Company...............
8. Age.....................

Please Note:
Your Lottery Prize must be claimed not later than 15 days from date of Draw Notification after the Draw date in which Prize has won. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited.

Congratulations!! Once again.

Yours in service,
REV.RALPH DELAHAY
(Operation Manager)
Yahoo International Promotion Center

Email: lottooffice011@yahoo.co.th
Bangkok 10400
Kingdom of Thailand

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam