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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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.

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:
  • "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "00,000.00" (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)
  • "u.k " (this email uses bad English)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +447035944119 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447035944526 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "MICROSOFT CORPORATION TEAM" <awards@microsoft.co.uk>
Reply-To: mr.johnwilliams@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:51:52 +0800 (MYT)
Subject: OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION.

Microsoft Ltd, ®
Microsoft Corporation,
40 Ryecroft Way Stopsley ,
London SW1E 5JL
England UNITED KINGDOM
FILE REF: HL/5564/06/07/MICS
BATCH: MC11/834/5PDH /E

OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION.

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise
but please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over
your success in the following official publication of results of the
E-mail electronic online Sweepstakes organized by Microsoft, in
conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of software
products, (F.P.S.) held on the 8th of JULY 2009,in London, United
Kingdom
Were email address was randomly selected from over Three million email
addresses of different people around the world without their knowledge
and your email address emerged as one of the online Winning emails in
the 2nd category and therefore attracted a cash award of £450,000.00
(four hundred and fifty Thousand pounds sterling). Our winners are
arranged into four categories with different winning prizes
accordingly in each category. They are arranged in this format below:

CATEGORY NO.OF WINNERS WINNING PRIZES
1st. 2 £ 500,000.00 pounds each
2nd. 8 £ 450,000.00 pounds each
3rd. 13 £ 350,000.00 pounds each
4th. 27 £ 170,000.00 pounds each

We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to
contact the processing office immediately upon receipt of this message
for more information concerning the verification processing and
eventual payment of the above prize to you.

For verification purpose be sure to include the following:
(1) Your Full Names.
(2) Your Tel/Fax numbers.
(3) Your Nationality/Country.
(4) Your contact address.
(5) Sex.
(6) Age.
(7) Occupation.
(8) Your Preferred Method of Receiving Your Price (From Below)
Mode of Price Remittance.

(1)Cash Pick-Up (You coming Down to U.k Personally to Pick Your Price).
(2)Courier Delivery Of your Certified Winning Cheque Name and other
Winning Documents safely to you.
It is important to note that your award information was released with
the following particulars attached to it..

(1) These are your identification numbers: MCS-26799/097
(2) Award numbers: MCS-26799/097
(3) Email ticket numbers: EAASL-130877
(4) Batch numbers: MC11/834/8PDH /EU
(5) The file reference numbers: HL/5574/41/07/MICS
{6} Serial Numbers: McST/006/NL46560

To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, quote the following
numbers above to the Microsoft Promotional claims manager who will by
duty guide you on the step to take in collecting your prize.

**************************************************
FOREIGN CLAIMS MANAGER
MR.JOHN WILLIAMS
MICROSOFT SECURITY DEPARTMENT (UK).
Phone:+44 703 5944119
FAX: +44 703 594 4526
E-mail:claim.department@live.com
**************************************************

The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Awards is sponsored by Microsoft
Management, The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Acer Computers, and a
consortium of software promotion companies, The Intel
Group, Toshiba, Dell Computers and other International Companies such
as Yahoo, British airways, Google. The Microsoft internet E-mail draw
is held periodically and is organized to encourage the use of the
Internetand promote computer literacy worldwide.

Once again on behalf of all our staff,

CONGRATULATIONS!

Sincerely,

MR. Mark Smith.
M.S.PRO. ZONAL COORDINATOR.
© 2001-2009 MICROSOFT WINDOWS®.
77735 876378

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam