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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:

• 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:
  • "fiduciary 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 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.
  • +27835505429 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • mr_rightholmes@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: MICROSOFT AWARD <ms_ms0.26@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2007 14:05:06 +0200
Subject: MICROSOFT PRESENTS HILL TEAM WITH INNOVATOR AWARD.















Microsoft Innovator Award! 20 Craven Park HarlesdenLondon NW10United Kingdom
Ref: BTD/968/07Batch: 409978E
Dear Winner,

MICROSOFT PRESENTS HILL TEAM WITH INNOVATOR AWARD.
The prestigious Micrsoft and AOL has set out a sucessfully organised Sweepstakes marking the Microsoft Award year anniversary we rolled out over £5,000.000.00 (Five million Great Britain Pounds) for our end of year Anniversary Draws. Participants for the draws were randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of web hosts which we enjoy their patronage. The selection was made through a computer draw system attaching personalised email addresses to ticket numbers. If you ignore this, you will regret it later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.Your email address as indicated was drawn and attached to ticket number 008795727498 with serial numbers BTD/9080648302/06 and drew the lucky numbers 14-21-25-39-40-47(20) which subsequently won you £500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds) as one of the 10 jackpot winners in this draw. You have therefore won the entire winning sum of £500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds). The draws registered as Draw number one was conducted in Brockley, London United Kingdom on the Microsoft Award year anniversary these Draws are commemorative and as such special.Please be informed by this winning notification to file your claims,you are to make contact with your designated agent who shall by duty to guide you through the process to facilitate the release of your prize who is present in South Africa where your winning prize falls.To file for your claim Please Contact your fiduciary agent.




Microsoft Innovator Award Agent



Name: Mr. Right Holmes
Tel: +27 83 550 5429Tel: +27 83 439 0003Fax: +27 86 655 3326
Email: mr_rightholmes@yahoo.com


You are advised to contact your Fiduciary Agent with the following details to avoid unnecessary delays and complications:
Name (in Full) :
Country:
Address:
Direct Telephone No:
Age:
Occupation/position:
Ticket Number:
Batch Number:
Serial Number:
Lucky Numbers:
Amount won:
as indicated in this winning Notification and Phone numbers.Thank you for being part of this promotional award program.Our special thanks and gratitude to Bill Gates and his associates.We wish you the best of luck as you spend your good fortune.Thank you for being part of our commemorative Microsoft Award year Anniversary Draws.Sincerely,Dr. Mrs. Grace McDonaldMicrosoft Promotion Team


PLEASE NOTE! Any claim not made before (14) working days from date of notification will indicate that the winner has voluntarily forfeited his/her winnings.


Microsoft Innovator Award
_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam