419 scam: Sonja Mayra Righetti <sonja.righetti@mma.gov.br> Dear Beneficiary

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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:
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "mrpaulchadwick_20@live.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.
- +447024094558 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- +2348073958109 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: Sonja Mayra Righetti <sonja.righetti@mma.gov.br>
Reply-To: mrpaulchadwick_20@live.com
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2010 22:32:40 -0300
Subject: Dear Beneficiary

Puro
Content-Disposition: inline

Dear Beneficiary,

It is our pleasure to inform you on our successfully organized Sweepstakes
which was organized this year 2010 anniversary and we rolled out over US$
725,989,087 for the yearly Anniversary Draws, which participants for the draws
were randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of web hosts which we enjoy
their patronage. NOTE: {TICKET NUMBERS: 234-807-395-8109 ,SERIAL NUMBERS:
AOL/MICROSOFT/1276-009, LUCKY NUMBERS: 07-26-33-09-07-22 (88)

Your email address have been selected in the MICROSOFT 2010 lottery promotion,
you have a winning prize of £ 900,000 ( Nine Hundred Thousand British Pounds)
as one of the jackpot winner in this draw.

Please be informed by this winning notification to file your claims
immediately. Contact your referred agent with your verification information as
required on the form below:

Address: 26 High Street Starbeck Harrogate North Yorkshire, England HG2 7HY
Referred Agent : Mr . Paul Chadwick
Tel: +44-702 409 4558
Email: mrpaulchadwick_20@live.com

Name: ..................................
Country of Origin.......................
Place of Residence......................
Occupation..............................
Sex/Age.................................
Telephone/Fax...........................
Winning Email ID........................

You have Two (2) weeks from the date of this publication to claim your
prize or
you may forfeit your winnings. Thank you for being part of our commemorative
Anniversary Draws.

NOTE: DUE TO THE PRESENT ECONOMIC SITUATION IN THE WORLD AND FRAUDSTERS AS
WELL, YOUR WINNING FUNDS WILL BE MADE READY TO YOUR HOME ACCOUNT BY THE
ASSIGNED TRANSFERRING BANK WHICH HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE AUTHORITY BY
MICROSOFT AOL
LOTTERY TO EFFECT TRANSFER TO WINNERS HOME BANK ACCOUNT UNDER 48 HOURS.

Mrs. Sonja Mayra
Public Relations Officer
© 2010 Microsoft Corporation

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CorreioMM@ - Ministerio do Meio Ambiente

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam