419 scam: "MRS. HELEN OWEN" <info@offiii1ce.com> ATTENTION!!

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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:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "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.
- mr.davidanderson010@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "MRS. HELEN OWEN" <info@offiii1ce.com>
Reply-To: mr.davidanderson010@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:01:11 +0200
Subject: ATTENTION!!

Hi,

We are pleased to inform you of the announcement of winners of THE UK INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY PROGRAMS held on 2nd of May, 2017 as part of ouryear bonanza.

You have won the UK International lottery; your ticket number 034-1416-4612 750, with serial number 6521-11 drew the lucky numbers 31-34-22-24-39-43, and consequently won the lottery in category C.

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of ?1.2Million in cash credited to file REF: EKS255125600304. This is from total prize money of ?16,800,000.00 shared among 14 winners in this category. All participants were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from 25,000 names from Middle East, Asia, Africa, Canada, Europe and North America and Oceania as part our International Promotions Program, which is conducted annually!

Your fund is now deposited with EQUITY INVESTMENT LIMITED, a finance company, insured in your name. Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this program.

To begin your claim, please contact your claims agent;

MR. DAVID ANDERSON
EQUITY INVESTMENT LIMITED,
132 BLACKBURN ROAD,
BOLTON BL7 9RP ENGLAND, UK.
TEL: 00 44 (0) 745 122 2069
EMAIL: mr.davidanderson010@gmail.com

Send the following by email to us to enable us process your prize:

1) Beneficiary's Full Names (First Name, Middle Name, Surname):
2) Reference Numbers:
3) Award Prize (Amount) Won:
4) Country of Residence, Physical and Postal Address:
5) Contact Mobile Telephone, Telephone & Fax Numbers:
6) Alternative contact email address:

Remember, you must contact your claim agent immediately, if you do not contact then, all funds will be returned as unclaimed.

All correspondences to DAVID ANDERSON should be sent by email.

CONGRATULATIONS

Sincerely,
MRS. HELEN OWEN.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam