419 scam: HELEN BROWN <pro_award@rediffmail.com> YOU HAVE WON $2,500,000.00USD (AUTHORIZED BY ONLINE GLOBAL LOTTERY)

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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 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")
- "hundred thousand 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
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!
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
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.
- barr_ibrahim_mahud@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: HELEN BROWN <pro_award@rediffmail.com>
Reply-To: barr_ibrahim_mahud@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:17:31 +0530 (IST)
Subject: YOU HAVE WON $2,500,000.00USD (AUTHORIZED BY ONLINE GLOBAL LOTTERY)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
YOU HAVE WON $2.5M Us dollars!

This is to inform you the beneficiary
that, your email was among the 10 Lucky winners who won $ 2.5M (Two Million Five
hundred thousand United State Dollars) each from the just concluded annual grand
final draws by Online Global Lottery Service, Thunder ball, held in LONDON. your
email was selected

The online draws was conducted by a random selection
of email addresses from an exclusive list of 9,000 e-mail addresses of
individuals and corporate bodies picked by computerized email selection machine
(TOPAZ).However, no tickets were sold but all email addresses were assigned to
different ticket numbers for representation and privacy.

This Lottery is
approved by the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by The International
Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).This lottery is the 2ND of its kind and
MSN, YAHOO and AOL intends to assist legally by using this medium to sensitize
the beneficiaries and general public on this development during this festive
season.

In other to claim for your prize, you are required to reconfirm
your winner's particulars as accompanied above and send it immediately via
e-mail to the Promotion Office of ONLINE GLOBAL LOTTERY SERVICE. Barrister
Ibrahim Mahud. In conjunction withÂ TOPAZ INTERNATIONAL INC for processing and
prompt receiving of your fund. We require that you fill in with the accompanied
details:

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE:

These are your Winning
Information and Identification Numbers:

Batch
Number.....................0952k.
lucky
number................7181813-05.
Reference
Number..............YLINC/02-OH-06 .
Serial Number.....................ILP/HW
652-662
Ticket Number...................
577-744-3465-E77.Category...........2nd.

HERE IS THEIR OFFICE ADDRESS
BELOW: SO YOU ARE REQUIRED TO FILL THIS WINNING VERIFICATION FORM AND SEND IT
DIRECT TO THEIR OFFICE FOR YOUR CLAIMS.

BARRISTER IBRAHIM MAHUD.
(Overseas Payment Officer)

BARRISTER IBRAHIM MAHUD.
GLOBAL ONLINE
LOTTERY SERVICE. ASIAN FIDUCIARY AGENT
EMAIL: barr_ibrahim_mahud@hotmail.com

Tel: (+62-21-41709546/+62-87887140884)

You are Required to fill this
Verification form with your details And forward it direct to your claim agent,
to the above offices for verification purposes.

WINNER'S VERIFICATION
FORM.
Â
FULL NAME....................................
COUNTRY OF
ORIGIN.....................
PRESENT
ADDRESS.........................
AGE.............................................
OCCUPATION...............................SEX.............................................TELEPHONE
NUMBER......................
MARITAL
STATUS..........................
BATCH
NUMBER............................
WINNING
NUMBER.......................
REFERENCE NUMBER....................

All
informationâ€™s are to be completed and sent immediately through email to our
Promotion Consultant. We advice all winners and beneficiaries to cultivate a
habit of checking their email accounts regularly for updates on their
prizes.

For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this
information confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your
prize released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double
claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this program by non-participant or
unofficial personnel.

APPROVED
Mrs. Helen Brown (PHD)
LOTTO
CO-COORDINATOR.
GLOBAL ONLINE LOTTERY
SERVICE.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam