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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Microsoft Power Ball lotto Customer Service."
<co-cordinator14@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <microsoftpower@myway.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:47:34 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS (DEAR EDGAR) YOU WON MICROSOFT LOTTERY!






MOTTO: FIGHTING POVERTY ROUND THE WORLD




FROM: THE DESK OF THE E-MAIL PROMOTIONS MANAGER INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT, MICROSOFT CORPORATION WORD LOTTERY AND POWER BALL UNITED STATES.61-70 Southampton Row, Bloomsbury NEWYORK UNITED STATES WC1B 4AR.REFERENCE NO: MSW-L/200-26937
BATCH NO: 2007JULY #25

WINNER NO: 5


ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION
AWARD PRESENTATION CENTER: UNITED STATES


DEAR EDGAR,


MICROSOFT COOPERATION MANAGEMENT WORLDWIDE AND POWER BALL ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT YOU ARE A WINNER OF OUR ANNUAL MS-WORD LOTTO LOTTERY CONDUCTED IN AMERICA BEING THE HOST OF THE EVENT FOR THIS PRESENT YEAR MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO WINNING PROGRAMS HELD ON 1ST,JULY 2007.

YOUR PERSONAL E-MAIL ADDRESS OR COMPANY EMAIL WAS ATTACHED TO JULY MSWLL. WITH SERIAL NUMBER S/M-00168 DREW THE LUCKY NUMBERS 987-13-965-37-1-20-83, AND CONSEQUENTLY WON IN THE FIRST LOTTERY CATEGORY. YOU HAVE THEREFORE BEEN APPROVED FOR LUMP SUMS OF $ 1,000,000.00
(USD ONE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) PAYABLE IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE REF NO: MSW-L/500-36937 THIS IS FROM TOTAL PRIZE MONEY OF
$ 25.000.000.00 USD, SHARED AMONG THE TWENTY-FIVE (25) LUCKY INTERNATIONAL WINNERS IN FIRST AND SECOND CATEGORY.

ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE SELECTED FROM WORLDWIDE WEBSITES ESPECIALLY YAHOO MAIL THROUGH OUR MICROSOFT COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM DRAWN FROM 21,000 NAMES, 30,000 NAMES FROM EACH CONTINENT (CANADA, ASIA, AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATE, EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA AND OCEANIA, AS PART OF INTERNATIONAL "E-MAIL" PROMOTIONS PROGRAM, WHICH IS CONDUCTED ANNUALLY FOR OUR PROMINENT MS -WORD USERS ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND TO ENCOURAGE THE USE OF INTERNET AND COMPUTERS WORLDWIDE.

YOUR FUND (CERTIFIED CHEQUE) HAS BEEN INSURED WITH YOUR REF NO:MSW-L/500-36937 AND WILL BE READY FOR DELIVERY. IT WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOU BY ONE OF OUR CLAIM AGENT IN CHARGE OF YOUR ZONE (Mrs.Edith Ambler). YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE USED IN ALL CORRESPONDENCE WITH YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER, PLEASE NOTE THAT, YOU ARE TO CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER VIA EMAIL ONLY AS WE ARE PROMOTING THE USE OF E-MAIL. ALSO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CONFIRM YOUR WINNINGS AND GOVERNMENT TAX PAYMENT THAT IS INVOLVE, AS SHE WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE NECESSARY DETAILS ON HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE.

AS PART OF OUR SECURITY PROTOCOL YOU ARE TO QUOTE THIS SECURITY CODE MSW/JULY/XX07 TO YOUR CLAIMING AGENT. THIS IS TO PREVENT SCAM .


PRIZE CLAIM


CLAIMS AGENT OFFICER CONTACT EMAIL IS:

Mrs.Edith Ambler

CLAIMS AGENT
E-MAIL:microsoft.www@safat.us


REMEMBER, ALL PRIZE MONEY MUST BE CLAIMED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ALL FUNDS NOT CLAIMED ON OR BEFORE THE FIXED DATE WILL BE RETURNED AS UNCLAIMED AND DONATED TO CHARITY ORGANIZATIONS.

NOTE: IN ORDER TO AVOID MISTAKES, PLEASE REMEMBER TO QUOTE YOUR REFERENCE AND BATCH NUMBERS AND YOUR SECURITY CODE OF
MSW/JULY/XX07 IN ALL CORRESPONDENCES WITH YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER. DO NOT REPLY ANY OTHER MAILS LIKE THIS ON NET, AS THEY ARE A LOT OF SCAM ARTIST OUT THERE PRETENDING TO BE MICROSOFT. DO CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER Mrs.Edith Ambler . AT ONCE YOU WILL BE ASKED TO PROVIDE SOME DETAILS TO ENABLE THE OFFICE PROCEED WITH YOUR WINNING CERTIFICATE AND FILE KEEPING.

CONGRATULATIONS, ONCE MORE FROM THE ENTIRE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF OF MICROSOFT COOPERATION AND POWER BALL TO ALL OUR LUCKY WINNERS THIS YEAR. THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF THIS PROMOTIONAL LOTTERY PROGRAM. OUR SPECIAL THANKS AND GRATITUDE TO BILL GATES OF MICROSOFT AND ALL HIS ASSOCIATES FOR ALLEVIATING POVERTY ROUND THE WORLD.
SINCERELY,


Co-Coordinators


LOTTERY SPONSORS: CHIEF SPONSORS;
POWER BALL LOTTO UK, POWER BALL LOTTO USA,
MICROSOFT CORPORATION UK, MICROSOFT CORPORATION AFRICA ,
MICROSOFT CORPORATION USA, MICROSOFT CORPORATION ASIA


Past winners.








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