419 scam: "Alba Mora" <albamora@udea.edu.co> number: FL 754/22/76

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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:
- "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million 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)
- ",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)
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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: questions@cfii.ca
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 18:04:03 -0400
Subject: number: FL 754/22/76

We are please to announce to you that your email address emerged along side 4
others as a category 2 winner in this weekly Publishers Clearing House
Consequently.You have won One million dollars and therefore been approved for
a total pay out of One million dollars ($1,000,000.00USD) The following
particulars are attached to your lotto payment order:

winning numbers :47-14-34-85-67-32
email, ticket number: FL 754/22/76

Please contact the underlined claims officer with the Contact info below

AGENT: Ricardo Mark
EMAIL: questions@cfii.ca

Winner you are to send the details below to process the immediate payment
of your prize
=======================
1. Name in full:
2. Address:
3. Sex:
4. Nationality:
5. Age:
6. Present Country:
=======================
!!!Once Again Congratulations!!!

Yours Sincerely,
Ricardo Mark
ONLINE CO-ORDINATOR.
La informacion contenida en este e-mail y sus anexos puede ser confidencial y/o reservada, y solo puede ser utilizada por la persona o la entidad a la cual esta dirigido. Si no es usted el destinatario autorizado, cualquier retencion, difusion, distribucion o copia de este mensaje esta prohibida y sancionada por la ley. Si por error recibe este mensaje, le ofrecemos disculpas y le agradecemos reenviar y borrar el mensaje recibido y sus anexos inmediatamente. Las opiniones expresadas en este mensaje son responsabilidad exclusiva de quien las emite, ellas no comprometen la responsabilidad institucional por el uso que el destinatario haga de los mismos.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam