419 scam: BlackBerry Office <office@bb.com.br> Re

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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:
- "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)
- "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 dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "blackberryoffice1@gmx.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.
- +447031833984 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: BlackBerry Office <office@bb.com.br>
Reply-To: blackberryoffice1@gmx.com
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 08:03:24 -0200
Subject: Re

--
BlackBerry Lottery Company
76 Sheen Lane, Richmond,
London SW14 8LP,
United Kingdom

Ref: UKBB/2901X2/55
Batch: BBX/124/01/Y369

Dear Winner, This is to bring to your notice that you have been
approved by BlackBerry Company to receive the pay out sum of
$300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand United State Dollars) for this
year 2011 lottery program.

Your e-mail address was attached to ticket number: 223300577345 133
with Serial number 5219/02 drew, and a bonus number of (15) which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category. You have
therefore been approved to claim a total sum of $300,000.00 (Three
Hundred Thousand United State Dollars) in cash credited to file
BB/9023118308/03. This is from a total cash prize of $900,000.00
shared amongst the (3) lucky winners in this category i.e Match 3 plus
bonus.

All participants for the online version were selected randomly from
World Wide Email Web sites through computer draw system and extracted
from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate email that are
listed online.

You are to contact our AFFILIATE CLAIM AGENT OFFICER with the
following information, for delivery of your winning amount sum of
$300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand United State Dollars).

1. Full Name: 2. Conact Address:
3. Occupation: 4. Home Phone No:
5. Cell Phone No: 5. Age & Sex:

International Claim Agent Officer
Mr. Albert Johnson
Tell: +447031833984
Email: blackberryoffice1@gmx.com

Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program.

Yours Truly,
Mrs. Patricia Wood.
Online Co-Ordinator.

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Anti-fraud resources:

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