419 scam: "Mr. Thomas Bradley" <information@atm.com> UNITED NATIONS OFFICE

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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:
- "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.
- mrthomas_bradley@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Thomas Bradley" <information@atm.com>
Reply-To: mrthomasbradley01@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:39:07 -0200
Subject: UNITED NATIONS OFFICE

UNITED NATIONS OFFICE
FOR THE COORDINATION OF
HUMANITARIAN AFFAIR.

Our Ref: FGN/SNT/RAL
Your Ref: SNT/ATM/822

Dear Esteemed Beneficiary,

Inline with the United Nations millennium development goal to
eradicate poverty and hunger by the year 2015 i am directed to
inform you that your payment verification and confirmations is
completed, Therefore we are happy to inform you that arrangements
have been concluded to effect your payment as soon as possible in
our bid for transparency.

You have been granted the sum of $500,000.00 USD in the United
Nation Development Program UNDP world Aid/support promo, for your
Personal, community and education development and do note that at
least 40% (Percent) of these total fund must be use for such purpose.

The United Nations collects all the email addresses of persons that
are active online among the millions that subscribed to the Internet
and only five persons every Year are selected as our Beneficiaries
through electronic balloting System without the winner applying.

On that note we congratulate you for being one of the beneficiaries.

To file for your claim, you are requested to contact the events
Manager/Claims Department,send your winning Identification Numbers
and the following information.

These are your identification numbers:

Reff number: UNDP/HUM/003/2011
Batch number: UNHM/UK/9768/789
Full Name:
Contact Address:
Phone Number:
Age:
Sex:
Occupation:
Country:

You are advised to send your details below via his e-mail address :

EMAIL: mrthomas_bradley@yahoo.com.hk

Thank you and accept my hearty Congratulations once again!

Yours faithfully,
Mr. Thomas Bradley
Under-Secretary-General:
Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

Copyright © 1996-2012 United Nations Development program Inc.
All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guideline

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam