419 scam: "Alicia Jones"<test@cityexpress.com> Read Carefully

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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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 of america" (this email uses bad English)
- "scottwills25699@info.lt" (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.
- +2348028701147 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Alicia Jones" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <scottwills25699@info.lt>
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:08:58 -0700
Subject: Read Carefully

Attention: Dear User {$500,000.00}

How are you today? Hope all is well with you and your family? I hope this mail meets you in a perfect condition. This is from a total cash prize of US 500,000.00 dollars, given to the first FIFTY (50) people who will be compensated in this world internet programs.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site Through computer draw system and extracted from over 700.000 companies I am using this opportunity to thank you for using the internet daily.

Due to your effort, using internet programs indoor and in your office, We want to compensate you and show our gratitude to you with the sum of $500,000.00 Thousand United States Of America Dollars we have authorized Mr. Scott Williams to assist you in getting your compensation check across to you.

The name and contact address of Mr. Scott Williams is as follows;

Compensation Head Office
Contact Agent: Mr. Scott Williams
E-mail :scottwills25699@info.lt
Telephone : +234 8028701147

Finally remember that I have forwarded instruction to the Hill Harry on your behalf to send the cash prize of Five hundred thousand United State Of America Dollars to you as soon as you contact him without delay . Please I will like you to accept this token with good faith as this is from the bottom of my heart.

Thanks and God bless you and your family. Hope to hear from you soon.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Alicia Jones.
© 2010

NOTE: You are responsible to pay for the delivery Fees of this draft {E.I $150 USD}

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam