419 scam: "Mrs. Beatrice Hamilton"<mysoftlife@gomaichina.com> ATTN: WINNER

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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")
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.
- +34692048811 (Spain, prepaid mobile phone)
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.
- j.albertofenix@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Beatrice Hamilton" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <j.albertofenix@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 07:57:47 -0800
Subject: ATTN: WINNER

Attn: Winner,

RE: EUROMILLIONS PRIZE AWARD
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today, 23rd
of December 2014, winner of the EUROMILLIONS NATIONAL LOTTERY
PROGRAM. Entry 24171 attached to your E-mail address drew the
lucky winning numbers INTER-LOTO-2853 and as a result, you won
in the 2rd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump
Sum Payment of (815,960, 00€) Eight hundred and fiften thousand
nine hundred and sixty euros.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
All participants were selected through a computer ballots system
drawn from 25,000 E-mail from Europe, North & South America, Asia,
Australia Caribbean, Africa And New Zealand as part of our
international program, which we conduct once every year. We hope
that with a part of your prize, you will take part in our up
coming end high stake US$2.8 billion International lottery.

Since this is the final notice, all prize money must be claimed no
later than 27th of January, 2015. Any claim not made before this day
will be returned to the MINISTERIO DE HACIENDA. Your prize has been
insured in its total value in your name and will be transferred when
all documents are signed. This is mandatory and is meant to satisfy
all official Laws and protocols as mandated by the Spanish Lottery
Regulations (SLR). Please note that there will be no deductions from
your winning Prize as it has been insured to its full value.

Your winning informations are: REF Nº: WLRMH/94158025,
Batch Nº: 9-11-13-16-45, TICKET Nº: 25227ES.

To initiate your claim prize contact your claim agent, FÉNIX DIRECTO
Contact person: Mr. Javier Alberto, Director of Payments,
Emai: j.albertofenix@aol.com
Tel: +34-692-048-811

Congratulations once again for being part of our program.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Beatrice Hamilton

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam