419 scam: "British Petroleum UK"<olympics2012@bp.co.uk> London 2012 Olympic Raffle

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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:
- ",000,000" (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)
- "bpolympics@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!

Fraud email example:

From: "British Petroleum UK" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bpolympics@live.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2012 05:19:11 -0300
Subject: London 2012 Olympic Raffle

Olympic Games Redemption Center
1 Queen Caroline Street
Hammersmith, London
W6 9HQ - United Kingdom
Ref: UK/65072012

Congratulations!

We are pleased to announce to you the result of the 2012 British Petroleum Olympic Games/Windows Live International Draw held in August, 2012. Your E-mail Address attached to ticket number: 139573490206 750 with Serial number 1395/12 drew the lucky numbers: 08 17 22 30 36 , which won in the 1st category of the draw.

Your prize is £3,000,000.00 (Three Million, Great Britain Pounds) in cash and has been credited to file MTF/13700117/12. A total cash prize of £50.000.000.00 (Fifty Million Great Britain pounds) was shared among the 26 lucky winners across the globe. All participants were selected randomly from the Internet and the International E-mail Directory, and extracted from over 100,000 unions, individuals, associations and corporate bodies that are listed in the Directory.

To claim, kindly send your Full Name and preferred contact Telephone Number to your prize administrator on: bpolympics@live.com

Note: For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your money is remitted to you in your country. This is to avoid double claim which will lead to disqualification. Congratulations from me and members of staff of British Petroleum Company.

Yours faithfully,
Mrs. Ann Clive
(Announcer)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam