419 scam: "Erskine Bowles"<test@wiband.com> Congratulation From Facebook Headquarters.

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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)
- "claims office" (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 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.
- facebook_hq@usa.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Erskine Bowles" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <facebook_hq@usa.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2017 14:15:16 +0200
Subject: Congratulation From Facebook Headquarters.

FACEBOOK ONLINE INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY

FROM: THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT.

INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD.

BATCH NUMBER: FB-0211/744

SERIAL NUMBER: 99662748-2017

TICKET NUMBER: FB-142-60

CATEGORY: 2ND

The Entire Facebook team are very happy to inform you that your name appear on the FACEBOOK ONLINE INTERNATIONAL PROMO and we are giving out the total sum of US$950,000.00 ( Nine Hundred And Fifty Thousand United States Dollars ) which is what you have just won.

Your name was selected in a raffle that was made for the FACEBOOK ONLINE INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY for the year 2017 with the lucky number (FB-225-7736) so we need your fast response so that we can proceed with the claim process of your winnings.

Your name was selected by Mr Mark Zuckerberg the CEO of Facebook (Founder & amp Chief Executive Officer ). The promotion was made to make all Facebook users to benefit from the profit the company made while they use Facebook.

Facebook is the first and ever largest means of meeting both old and new friends.

The promo was done to serve as a means of appreciation to visitors on our site and also to help people to fight off poverty and to maintain a good standard of living.

Kindly contact Mr. Thomas Westbrook the General secretary of the FACEBOOK TEAM and appointed as your claims officer via this email (Facebook_hq@usa.com) immediately with the following information about you below:

Full Name:

Residential Address:

Private Mobile Number:

Age:

Occupation:

Marital Status:

Sex:

City:

State:

Country:

Zip/Postal Code:

As soon as he gets your email with all the information stated above he will tell you on what next to do as regards the claiming and receiving of your winnings of US$950,000.00.

Thank you and More Congratulations.

Agent Name: Thomas Westbrook for CDAA

Get some Zero paid Gear FBI SCAM PROTECTED

Note: For security reasons and due to the mix-up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this notification strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by non-participants of this program. BE WARNED"

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam