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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
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• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "microsoft mega jackpot lottery" (no such lottery exists)
  • "microsoft lottery" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "fudiciary" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",000,000" (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)
• 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.
  • +447011127441 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Microsoft Award Team <alert08@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 14:04:29 +0000
Subject: Microsoft Mega Jackpot Lottery:REF NO: M154S/WL07



MICROSOFT MEGA JACKPOT LOTTERYMICROSOFT HOUSE PRESCOT, LONDON E1 8RP.UNITED KINGDOM.REF NO: M154S/WL07MICRO (LOTTERY) CHIP NO: 9465206ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD PROMOTIONDear Mr/Mrs/Sir/Madam:
Today, we announce the 10 lucky winners of the MICROSOFT LOTTERYPROGRAM held on 20th September 2007. Your company or your personal e-mail address, attached to the Chip Number: 9465206, won in the Secondlottery category 002. Your email address has brought you an unexpectedluck, please read through this message.You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £1,000,000GBP (One Million Great Britain Pounds) in cash credited to fileMSW/9080118308/02/LA.This is from a total cash prize of £10.000,000GBP (Ten Million Great Britain Pounds) shared amongst the ten (10)lucky winners.All participants were selected randomly from 'World Wide Web' sitethrough Microsoft computer ballot system (MCBS) and extracted fromover 100,000 individuals and companies. For security reasons, you areadvised to keep your winning information confidential till your claimsis processed and money remitted to you in the manner you deem fit toclaim your prize. This is a part of our precautionary measure to avoidunwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements.Note that all claims process and clearance procedures must be dulycompleted early to avoid impersonation arising to the issue of doubleclaim, you are advised to keep this notice to yourself because weshall not be responsible for any divert of funds as a result of youdisclosing your lottery award details,I hereby advice you to reportto the Microsoft lottery claims agent whose information is statedbe low.Contact Person:Mr.Vadell KinnisonFudiciary Agent,E-mail: microsoftagent_vadell10@yahoo.co.ukTel.: +44 701 112 7441Fax: +44 709 286 9331
Do email or call the above mentioned person, at once with all theclaims requirements below. In order to avoid unnecessary delays andcomplications.
Best Regards,Mrs.Edlyn AlbertSecretaryMicrosoft Mega Jackpot Lottery
_________________________________________________________________
Feel like a local wherever you go.
http://www.backofmyhand.com

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam