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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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:
  • "claims office" (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.
  • +31614355609 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: windownote07@zipmail.com.br
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:57:12 +0200
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?WINNING=20NOTIFICATION?=

MICROSOFT GLOBAL E-MAIL LOTTERY
INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
HEREENSTRAAT 212,1012 KK
AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS.

OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION

DEAR LUCKY WINNER,

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a suprise but
please 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 5th of July 2007,in
Amsterdam The Netherlands.
Where in your electronic email address emerged as one of the online winning
emails in the 3rd category and therefore attracted a cash award of 470,000.00Euros(Four
hundred and seventy thousand Euros only).

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.

It is important to note that your award information was released with the
following particulars attached to it.

(1) Award numbers: NL 56/7765
(2) Email ticket numbers: NL553/26/96
(3) Batch numbers: MC11/834/5PDH /EU
(4) The file reference numbers: HL/5564/06/07/MICS
{5} Serial Numbers:McST/006/NL4657

For verification purpose be sure to include:
(1) mailing address.
(2) Tel/Fax numbers.
(3) Nationality/Country.
{4} Full Names

Please contact your Validating Officer for VALIDATION of your winning within
Twenty-nine working days of this winning notification.Winnings that are
not validated within Twenty-nine working days of winning notification are
termed void and invalid. You are required to mention the above particulars
of your award in every correspondence to enable the Agent validate your
winning.

CONTACT:
*******************************************************************
PROCESSING OFFICER (Mr Mark Robert )
MICROSOFT CLAIMS OFFICE(NL).
TEL:+31-614-355-609.
E-mail: processingoffice@searchmachine.com
********************************************************************
The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Awards is sponsored by our CEO/Chairman,
and a consortium of software promotion companies.The Intel Group, Toshiba,
Dell Computers and other International Companies.The Microsoft Internet
E-mail draw is held periodically and is organized to encourage the use of
the Internet and promote computer literacy worldwide.

CONGRATULATIONS! Once again on behalf of all our staff.

Yours faithfully,
LINDA HERTOG (Mrs)
MICROSOFT E-MAIL LOTTERY
PROMOTION COORDINATOR.



Copyright © 2000-2007 The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Awards Promotion
Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of Service -Guideline.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam