419 scam: "Google Award" <infogaward@gmail.com> Attention Winner

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
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 free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- awardg803@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Google Award" <infogaward@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 8 May 2014 14:42:06 -0000
Subject: Attention Winner

GOOGLE INC.
World Headquarters
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043.

RE: PROMOTING GOOGLE WEST AFRICA DRAW 2014.

Dear Email Account Owner,

This is to inform you that your e-mail address have won the sum of
$1,150,000.00 (One Million One Hundred and Fifty Thousand U.S Dollars) for
you. No tickets were sold for the Draw. You were selected by our
Automatic Email Extractor Machine. Two Billion email addresses was
extracted from Google Search Engine and your email address came 5th
Position with Online Ticket Number: GLA7637US among our Top 100 Winners.

Below is your Winning Details:-

ONLINE TICKET NUMBER: GLA7637US
BATCH NUMBER: GL6990009484334
Amount Won: $1,150,000.00 (One Million One Hundred and Fifty Thousand U.S
Dollars)

You are required to contact our West African based Claim Representative
Agent for the processing and release of your Won Prize on the contact as
stated below:-

Contact Person: Mr. Paul Asiwome
E-mail: awardg803@gmail.com
Phone No: +233231325648

Indicate your Online Ticket Number, Batch Number, Full name, Phone Number
& your E-mail Address to your Claim Agent for official identification.
Congratulations

Yours in Service,

Doreen Orients
Google Award Co-ordinator.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam