De arte equus mortuus verberans.

Our previous posting outlining our misadventures with Frank Moore and the FaceBook lottery team turned out not to be the last we’ve heard from our friends (although we’re not sure that the ‘r’ should be in the previous word) in deepest, darkest Africa. 

We sent the following off to Frank believing that he and his cohorts would realize that their efforts were for naught.

Subject: RE: CHOOSE YOUR PREFERRED OPTION TO RECEIVE YOUR PACKAGE KINGLY GET BACK TO US
From: ellistyd@howtospotafraud.com
To: ‘frank moore’
Date Sent: 1/17/2012 9:14:21 AM

I just talked to someone at Facebook and they don’t know anything about this lottery. I think we’re done here.

Ellis Tyd

We did not think that we had been overly subtle.

We thought wrong.

From: frank moore
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2012 3:19 PM
To: Ellistyd@howtospotafraud.com

Subject: YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO SEND THE $420USD VIA WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER

The flashing Welcome, the pictures of FedEx planes and the FaceBook logo were back again. Now, it seems, sending the $420  has become a requirement. We wonder who they will send after us.

We are currently on the run from the Mattress Tag Police. You must have heard of them., those stalwarts who track down miscreants, like us, who remove the “Do Not Remove under Penalty of Law” tags from bedding. We have a large collection of such tags framed and mounted in the study.

Attn: Mr Ellis Tyd

We got you email and the option you Chose which is the Premium Express Delivery is the fastest way to receive your package. Attached to the option you will have to pay the delivery fee of $420USD so that your package will be delivered to you as soon as possible.Mr

Despite our efforts to convnice him otherwise, Frank still believes that we have chosen the most expensive option.

We are at a loss as to the reason for the extra line breaks between Mr. and Ellis, but who are we to judge. 

Ellis Tyd you will be required to send the $420USD through Western Union Money Transfer so that it can be received here by me and here is the information you will use to send the $420USD below:

We are not much for taking orders from legitimate authority figures, let alone FedEx clerks from Africa. We shall not be sending any money. 

Receiver’s Name: Larry Johnson
City:Atlanta
State: Georgia
Country: Usa
Zip Code: 30303
Text Question: Color
Text Answer: Blue

Continuing the theme of random globe hopping, the new player is from Atlanta, GA. We can only assume that Larry is related to Tayo Johnson of the Lagos, Nigeria Johnsons, to whom we were previously directed to send the funds.

We understand that a preposition is wrong thing to end a sentence with. On the other hand, any time we are forced to use “to whom”, we fell pretentious.

As soon as you finish sending the 420USD, Send me the following details about the transfer stated below:

Sender’s Name:
Sender’s Address:
Money Transfer Control Number (Mtcn):
Amount Sent:

Once i receive this information from you i will use it to receive the $420USD you have sent. As soon as i receives the $420USD, Your package will be posted to you immediately and you will receive it in 24hrs with no extra charges.

Since we are sending the money to Larry now and not Tayo, we must assume that Frank has returned to the United States. We wonder why he didn’t bring our check with him.

Of course, we have wondered a great many things regarding this entire process.

Mr Ellis Tyd get back to me and tell me when you will be sending the $420USD fee for the delivery of your package to you so that i can inform the delivery team to get ready to deliver your Package to you and if you don’t understand anything in this email ask me questions.

We would not feel comfortable aking Larry any questions as we have very little confidence in his ability to understand anything said to him in English.

Regards,

Frank Moore.

We did not answer Frank; neither did we send any money. We assumed, at this point, that our correspondence with Frank and the FaceBook Lottery Team had drawn to a close.

We assumed incorrectly. For only two days later……

Subject: CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FACEBOOK LOTTERY
From: facebookteamlottery@ovi.com
To: ellistys@howtospotafraud.com

Date Sent: 1/22/2012 3:03:50 PM

 

 

 

 

FACEBOOK  TEAM LOTTERY  OFFICE VERIFICATION FORM
1601 S California Ave,
Palo Alto,California
94304 United States.
Email: facebookteamlottery@ovi.com
Tel: 371-679-5902
Ref: 990078567
Batch: 9056490602/333
Winning no: FB8701/LPRC
Ticket number; 85430000-07024570000
Serial number; 7755551111
CONGRATULATIONS!!

Aside from the phone number, which looks like a US number but isn’t as 371 doesn’t seem to be used anywhere but Latvia, the rest of the numbers and codes are the same as the original message earlier in January.

This is to inform the bearer that You have won the sum of $950,000,000 OUR 2012 SWEEPSTAKES (Facebook Inc )
This is a bonus to promote our users worldwide through this online lottery, Which is fully based on an electronic selection .

We hereby approve you a lump sum of $950,000.000 (Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand US Dollars) in Cash Credit File- ILP/HW 47407/02 from the total cash prize for eight lucky winners in this category.

All participant were selected through a computer balloting system drawn in Nine hundred thousand E-mail address on www.facebook.com website from the listed countries: Canada,Australia,United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Oceania as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually.

This Lotto was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the Aspect that impacts people’s lifestyle worldwide.
Further more your details(e-mail address) falls within our European representative office in Amsterdam, Holland, as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of $950,000.000 (Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand US Dollars) will be released to you from this regional branch office in United State Of American .

To proceed on your claim validation, we will need your particulars to verify your winning. This will be required to draw up the winning papers in your name. Please if you are not the certified owner of this email address, please do not respond as that will amount to impersonation which could lead to civil or/and criminal proceedings against you…
Attached here is a copy of our verifications form; please fill accordingly so as to proceed with your winning validation.

Please attach a recent passport photograph if available
(For identification at payment point)

1. FULL NAMES:
_____________________________
2. DATE OF BIRTH:
_________________________________________________
3. SEX:
_________________________________________________
4. MARITAL STATUS: ________________________________________________
5.CONTACT ADDRESS:
_________________________________________________
6.TELEPHONE NUMBER:
_________________________________________________
7.OCCUPATION:
_________________________________________________
8.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF
COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL:
________________________________________________

Please Note that we do not compromise our service and all instructions must be followed accordingly.
Upon receipt of the duly requested data which is to be sent via email, you will receive the contact information of the payment office to effect the release of your claim in any way you deem fit.

Marc Zuckberg
1601 S California Ave,
Palo Alto,California
94304 United States.

APPROVED AND SIGNED By
MR MARK ZUCKERBERG CEO FACEBOOK TEAM

Aside from the ending picture of Mark Zuckerberg, the balance of the email was the same.

If at first you don’t succeed….

We were not aware that was a popular saying in Africa.

At any rate, we’ve had our bit of fun with Frank and his friends and funny though they may be, they are still a fraud.

Should Frank et. al. contact you, do not send them any money. It just encourages them. There is no FaceBook lottery. You did not win.

This is a Fraud.

That is all.