419 scam: "UKBenin Lotto Commission"<oliver@chenggong.edu.cn> CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU HAVE WON US$852,810:22

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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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (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)
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.
- wagent2011@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <wagent2011@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2011 21:20:05 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU HAVE WON US$852,810:22

DEAR WINNER,

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your success in the following official publication of results of the E-mail electronic online Sweepstakes organized by National-Lottery,in conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of software products,(F.P.S.) held on the 8th April 2011,in United Kingdom. Wherein your electronic email address emerged as one of the online winning emails in the 1st category and therefore attracted a cash award of $852,810:22 (EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY TWO THOUSAND, EIGHT HUNDRED AND TEN DOLLARS TWENTY TWO CENTS)

Our winners are arranged into four categories with different winning prizes accordingly in each category. They are arranged in this format below:

CATEGORY NO.OF WINNERS WINNING PRIZES
1st. 2 $852,810:22 dollars each
2nd. 8 $500,000.00 dollars each
3rd. 13 $250,000.00 dollars each
4th. 27 $100,000.00 dollars each

We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to contact the processing office immediately upon receipt of this message for more information concerning the verification, processing and eventual payment of the above prize to you. It is important to note that your award information was released with the following
particulars attached to it.

(1) Award numbers: UK/22-77-99
(2) Email ticket numbers: Ticket No :5647560054-188
(3) Batchnumbers: BatchNo:079/020/zp345
(4) The file reference numbers: UK/22-77-99
{5} Serial Numbers:5368/08:

To file for your claim,Please contact your Validating Officer for
VALIDATION of your winning within Twenty-nine working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are not validated within Twenty-nine working days of winning notification are termed void and invalid. You are required to mention the above particulars of your award in every correspondence to enable the Agent validate your winning.

CONTACT:
*******************************************************************
FOREIGN TRANSFER MANAGER
NAME MR.DESMOND BENNY.
MICROSOFT SECURITY DEPARTMENT(UK).
E-mail: wagent2011@gmail.com
*******************************************************************

The National-Lottery Internet E-mail lottery Awards is
sponsored by our CEO/Chairman, Bill Gates:and a consortium of software promotion companies. The Intel Group, Toshiba, Dell Computers and other International Companies. The National-Lottery internet E-mail draw is held periodically and is organized to encourage the use of the Internet and promote computer literacy worldwide.

Once again on behalf of all our staff,CONGRATULATIONS!
Yours faithfully,
Mrs.Mary Davenport

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam