419 Scam: Fake Lottery

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419 Scam: Fake Lottery

Over last couple of years, fake lottery winning notifications have become the most common type of 419 scam / Advance Fee Fraud (a type of scam often perpetrated by criminals from West Africa). Beware of any winning notification that you receive by email! In reality there isn't any prize waiting you. What these evil criminals are trying to do is tricking you into wiring your own money (or money you borrow from family, friends, moneylenders, etc.) to them, by telling you that you will only get some prize money if you pay various fees, which they will tell you about as the scam proceeeds. The names of all people involved are fake, so are any passport images or certificates they send you. Any lawyer, bank, courier service or other player involved is fake as well.

Real lotteries serve one of two purposes:

To raise money
To provide publicity in order to draw in customers

The kind of ficticious lotteries invented by "419" scammers do neither. People who never bought a ticket and never filled in a form with their name and address are told they won millions. If this was a real lottery, what's in it for the organizer?

If a total stranger promises you millions of dollars or euros out of the blue, it's probably a fraud. Consider these points:

Have you ever heard of the company? Do a Google search for the name of the claims agent or lottery company. In most cases you will find many fraudulent mails that people have received and published to warn others.
Even if the name of the lottery doesn't come up, search for a few phrases. Most lottery scams use recycled texts. In many cases even the "winning numbers" stay the same for draws on different dates.
What email address did this arrive from and what kind of email address are you supposed to reply to? Is it a webmail service like Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, etc.? Real companies generally have their own corporate domains and real websites.
What email address was it addressed to? In many fraud mail cases, the recipient address is suppressed ("None") or it matches the sender address or a close variation thereof.
Email is too unreliable to notify prize winners. Real lotteries don't use email to notify winners. Either they have to come forward on their own or they are notified by registered mail.
Do the spelling and grammar in the mail you received look like legitimate business mail?
Does the email give a postal address and phone number for the lottery company, or if you are told to contact a handling agent, for the agent?
Does the email mention a "mix up of some numbers and names" and ask you to "keep your Winning information confidential until your claims have been processed"?
Are any phone numbers listed mobile phone numbers (such as 0031-6 for Dutch mobile phones or +234 80 for Nigerian mobile phones)?
Real lottery companies don't charge you 550 euros or more for paperwork to receive your winnings. Fake lotteries do, and then don't deliver any winnings...

List of various lottery scam formats (there are many more fakes):

The following fake lottery win notification is the most ridiculous example we have come across so far, yet (apart from its particularly poor spelling and grammar) it's really not so untypical of fake lottery scam emails:

From: MR TOM CLARK [[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, 17 January 2005 14:09
To: Firstname Lastname
Subject: URGENT REPLYED

NTERNATIONAL LOTTERY
FROM: THE DESK OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR.
( ACCEDITED LICENSED AGENT/ INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY )
REF-NUMBER GWK / 7519 /059741 /05 UAD
BATCH -NUMBER: 316 /2004 /BLL.......ATTN:

SIR/ MADAM, CONGRATULATION, TO YOU,
we are pleased to inform you about the result of the winners international lottery Brussels programs held on the 13th january 2005,your E-mail Address attached to the ticket NO:1002-25634789-6973 with serial no:984,
02 drew from the lucky NO:02-59-74-31-89-09-28-47-76-58,which consequently won the lottery in the first category, you have therefore been approve to give you a verry BIG house with, 9 bed rooms with 3 sitting rooms, and 3 birthroom, 3 kichen appart, 3 toilet appart, and one garrage appart, and playing ground for children, including 2004 BMW JEEP with full option,and swiming pool 15 meters by 23. and you are one of the 29, poeple that win this lottery worldwide. and also the companies promise to give you 150, 000 euro check after they give you the key of your house, inside and outside the house is perfect, so you have to repire anything in the house, because it is a new house.this lottery is organized by host country belgium collabarotion with international companies,fund for the drews were cotributed by the major,microsolft, BMW, julius berger, pepsi, rolex, nike
your fund is now deposited with our payment/ finance departiment in the security company to your e-mail address, due to the mixed up of some numbers and e-mail addresses,we ask that you keep this winning a top secret from the poblic notice untill your claim has been processed, this is the part of security protocol, to avoid double claiming or unwarranted taking advantage of this program by participants.
all participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from the 20, 000 companies, 30, 000, 000, individual e-mail addresses from all over the world as part of our international promotions program, which we conduct every year, we hope that with part of your wining you will take part in our next year lottery,
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR CLAIM MANAGER, Mr Denis Moor . [email protected] phone...0032 497 121478. Fax : 0032322-692-44
Remember, all wining must be claimed not later than 29th of january, 2005, after this date all unclaimed funds will be returned to the promotion
company.
NOTE: in order to avoid unnecessary delay and complication, please remember to quote your security credicted file number and batch
numbers respectively in every correspondence with your claim agent.FURTHERMORE, should there be any change of your address do
inform your claim agentas soon as possible.
congratulation once again from all numbers of our staff and thank you
for being part of our promotions program.

Best Regards
Mr Tom CLARK
LOTTERY CO-ORDINATOR

"Mark Roger" scam:

From: "uk_lottery" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, 11 February, 2005 11:14
Subject: SWEEPSTAKES WINNER!!!

The National Lottery
PO Box 1010
Liverpool
L70 1NL
United Kingdom.
Ref: LSUK/2031/8161/04
Batch: R3/A312-59

WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We happily announce to you the draw (#951) held on Wednesday, 2nd January 2005.
Your e-mail address attached to ticketnumber: 56475600545 188
with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 02,19,28,33,44,49,21.which subsequently won you the jackpot prize. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of #714,075 (Sevev hundred Forteen Thousand and Seventy Five Pounds Sterling) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.
All participants for the online version were selected randomly from the World Wide Web through a computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place weekly.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your #714,075 would be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:
Mr. Mark Roger
Email: [email protected]

Provide him with the information below:
1.Name:
2.Address:
3.Marital Status:
4.Occupation:
5.Age:
6.Sex:
7.Nationality:
8.Country Of Residence:
9.Telephone Number:
10.Fax Number:
11.Draw Number above:

That way your Winnings Certificate and all other relevant
documents/paperwork can be prepared for you. You would be required to show an instrument of identification when cashing your cheque i.e. Drivers License or International passport. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.

Good luck from me and members of staff of the U.K NATIONAL LOTTERY.

Yours faithfully,

Sir Jones Dutcher.
Online Co-ordinator for U.K NATIONAL LOTTERY Sweepstakes International Program.

___________________________________________________________________________
Mail sent from WebMail service at umob.net http://umob.net

And here are headers from a response that revals the source:

Received: from [81.199.108.12]
 by mail2mark.com with HTTP; 2/16/2005 8:13:26 AM PST
thread-index: AcUUQnHlAhW/dbqTRyijjIi40K5NHg==
Thread-Topic: CLAIMS OPTION
From: "UKNATIONAL LOTTERY" 
To: <emailaddress>
Subject:  CLAIMS OPTION
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 08:13:26 -0800
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
	boundary="----=_NextPart_000_9BB6_01C513FF.63C43B40"
X-Mailer: Microsoft CDO for Exchange 2000

Response text:

The National Lottery Logo
 
UK-LOTTO Headquarters
Customer Service
 
 
Ref: LSUK/2031/8161/04
Batch: R3/A312-59

ATTN: Firstname Lastname,
 
We are pleased to inform you that you have been officially cleared for
payment by the verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the UK
National Lottery. The original copy of the winning certificate, together
with a copy of your endorsed form (Money Laundering protection and
Letter of Affidavit for Claims) from the British government stating that
the money was obtained legally through the National Lotto will be sent
to you as soon as you meet with any of the option selected. I have been
assigned to your file and will be assisting you in accordance to powers
conferred on me. Attached is a copy of your winning certificate and a
scan copy of your endorsed form, which you will be required to provide
for verification and authentication, this is a standard procedure and
security protocol. You can now begin the final step of the claims
process, which is the transferring of your cash prize to you. With
regards to this, there are two options open to you, you are required to
select the most convenient of the two. The options, together with their
associated conditions are presented below: 
 
OPTION 1: 
Conveyance of your winning draft to you  via our assigned courier
company. 
Do stand informed that the Courier company processes documents only
through address provided in your formations provided. 
 
OPTION 2: 
Your prize money will be wired to your bank account via an automated
Direct Wire Transfer System, operated by 
Lloyds Bank of London. Hence you would be required to send in your bank
details/data .i.e. 
1.Name and address of bank. 
2.Account Number and Routing Number. 
3.Swift/iban codes.
I expect an email from you immediately making a selection from the two 
options above. You are to have been provided with your approporiate
certified documents, but a fax number is yet to be confirmed, therefore,
will be conveyed online. Hope to have informed you appropriately. 

 
Have a good day. 

MARK ROGER 
FIDUCIARY AGENT 
 
N.B:FOR VERIFICATION PURPOSES, YOUR PROVISIONAL COVER SLIP CERTIFICATE
HAS BEEN PROVIDED. DO NOTE THAT YOU ARE REQUIRED TO SECURE, AS THE
HANDLING COMPANY DESIGNATED TO YOUR FILE WONT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY
MIS-APPROPRIATION / MIS-HANDLING OR OTHER RELATED MATTERS ON YOUR END.

Sending network (IP 81.199.108.12):

     inetnum:        81.199.108.0 - 81.199.111.255
     netname:        CIDR-INTERCELLULAR-1
     descr:          Intercellular Nigeria Ltd
     country:        NG
     admin-c:        YA95-RIPE
     tech-c:         YA95-RIPE
     status:         ASSIGNED PA
     mnt-by:         AS12491-MNT
     source:         RIPE # Filtered
     
     person:         Yakubu Adamu
     address:        5th Floor, UBA House 57
     address:        Marina, Lagos
     address:        Nigeria
     phone:          +234 14704387
     fax-no:         +234 12643014
     e-mail:         [email protected]
     e-mail:         [email protected]
     nic-hdl:        YA95-RIPE
     source:         RIPE # Filtered

evwri pericosr [mailto:[email protected]] 
Donald Duffus
IISL Zonal Coordinator.
Iuliano Internationale Sweepstakes Lottery
Headquarters:
Marcolo Scozzi way,
Viani Meido 02-06,
4566 Torino,
Italy.
fiduciary agent: Mr. Luciano .c. 
The IISL Foundation
Email: [email protected]

"Thomas Walter" 
[email protected]
[email protected]
SIR H.J.PONFA
WORLDWIDE PROMOTIONAL LOOTERY
38 EDWARD STREET,
4TH FLOOR BARINOR BUILDING
UK LONDON, ENGLAND

SECONDLUCKYWINNER [mailto:[email protected]]
UK-NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMOTIONS
HEADQUARTERS:
184 WESTINGFIELD DRIVE,S.W 4TH,
P.O.BOX 1010
LIVERPOOL
£111,355 
contact official:Mr Andrew clarke
Email:[email protected]
Sir Sherman Earlworth.
andrew clarke [mailto:[email protected]]
UK-NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMOTIONS
lottery accountant [mailto:[email protected]]
form_b1 OF  FIRSTNAME LASTNAME (1).doc

[email protected]
MR MARTIN WALKER
UK NATIONAL INC.
Macclesfield,United Kingdom
Email:[email protected]
Email:[email protected]

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