419 scam: " Patricia Wesley " <ptwy@vwmlt.org.uk> Your E-mail was selected(Confirm)

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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- ",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)
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.
- +447035905301 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
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.
- elvis.bowie@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: " Patricia Wesley " <ptwy@vwmlt.org.uk>
Reply-To: elvis.bowie@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2015 13:48:25 +0800
Subject: Your E-mail was selected(Confirm)

Congratulations,

On behalf of the VW Motors Email Lottery and from the desk of the claims department, we gladly notify you of your lucky win of a total of £2,050,000 GBP (TWO MILLION & FIFTY THOUSAND BRITISH POUNDS) in the VW Motors Email Lottery Promotion held on the 30Th August 2015.

The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection system (ESS) from a database of over 50,000,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world which you were selected.

The VW Motors Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). To begin the processing of your prize you are to contact our fiduciary claims department for more information as regards procedures to claim your prize.

Mr. Elvis Bowie .
Email: elvis.bowie@yahoo.com.hk
Tel.: +44-703-590-5301
Contact him by providing him with your ticket number VJETTA-UK-VP990003-M4GA. You are also advised to provide him with the under listed information as soon as possible:

1. Name in full:
2. Address:
3. Nationality:
4. Age:
5. Occupation:
6. Phone/Fax:
7. Present Country:
8. Email Address:
9. Ticket Number:

For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize money remitted/released to you.This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements and equally to guard against non participant or unofficial personnel taking undue advantage of this program. Note that,all winnings MUST be claimed by a STIPULATED TIME(ON OR BEFORE 14 DAYS) otherwise the winnings will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually be reabsorbed into our next lucky dip sweepstakes.

Yours in service,
Mrs. Patricia Wesley.
(Programs & Events).
Material Copyright © 2015 The VW Co. Ltd

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Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam