419 scam: Publishers Clearing House (PCH)<claimingdepartment18@gmail.com> CONGRATULATION

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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:

The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
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: Publishers Clearing House (PCH)<claimingdepartment18@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 12 May 2021 14:46:51 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: CONGRATULATION

Hello Greetings to you, How you doing this awesome day and that of you I contacted you because i have a vital information to pass to you , and i am sure you'd really love to hear it.... Have you been informed about the ongoing PCH lottery for this year 2021?? Well i am pleased to inform you about the online conduction of the ongoing PCH lottery which takes place annually and we got an alert that you are among the online draw.. is a new innovation by the government, They are using this medium at saying a BIG THANK YOU to those of you who really take good care of your surroundings.... Have any of our PCH agent informed you that you are our 2nd prize winner...? Have you received any mail from someone from the pch Office? I am delighted to inform you of The result of this? Well i am pleased to inform you that you have just won the sum of one million united state dollars and a brand new BMW...CONGRATULATION!!! Ma... The promotion was made to make all the citizen wisen up to take good care of their surroundings.I want you to know that this lottery is 100% REAL and LEGITIMATE so you have nothing to worry about because the united state (FBI) are fully aware of this. I want you to know that this is real and legitimate okay, you have nothing to worried about anymore okay all you need to do know is to follow my instruction and your winnings will get to you at your doorstep okay...? This is part of our security protocol to avoid claiming and double unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants and scam artists all participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 companies and 30,000,000 individuals email addresses from all over the world. This promotional program takes place every three years. You may be rest assured that this is real and legal. There are some scam artists around but thanks to the FBI, 238 of them have been arrested. Hope you understand?

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam