joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mail Office" <mail-office@btconnect.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:00:23 +0100
Subject: MICROSOFT MEGA JACKPOT LOTTERY U.K.

   MICROSOFT MEGA JACKPOT LOTTERY U.K.
                                                                                 
 One of the logos of
            Microsoft
            Windows,
            the
            Company One of the logos of Microsoft
            Windows,
            the
            Company 
                     
 
REF NO: MSW/56B-672GH/L
BATCH: 4583JL/WIN


  MICROSOFT EMAIL LOTTERY AWARD PROMOTION: UNITED KINGDOM
 
Finally today, we announce the winners of the MICROSOFT MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO WINNINGS PROGRAMS held early this month 2007 . Your company or your personal e-mail address, attached to winning number 23-76-06-54-42-100, With serial number 647489, consequently won in the Tenth lottery category.
 
You have been approved for lump sums pay out of £850,000. British pound sterling in cash Credited to file REF NO: MSW/56B-672GH/L and winning number 23-76-06-54-42-100. Selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection machine (TOPAZ) from a database of over 1,000,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world.

The online draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses
from an exclusive list of 29,031 E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. No ticket were sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for representation and privacy. This is to encourage 
our prominent Microsoft Internet Explorer users all over the world, and for the   Continues use of E-mail.
 
Your fund (Certified Cashiers Cheque) has been insured with your REF NO: MSW/56B-672GH/L and winning number 23-76-06-54-42-100. To claim your winning prize, you must first contact the claims department by email for Processing and remittance of your prize to you.
 

  One of the logos of Microsoft
 Windows, the
            Company's best-known product.
Rev. Mike Charles
Claims Officer U.K.
 
 You are to reply to this In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and winning numbers in all correspondences with your claims officer. You are to keep all lotto information away from the general public especially your ticket number and ballot number.
(This is important as a case of double claims will not be entertained)
 

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU ARE TO SEND THE BELOW INFORMATION REQUIRED TO CLAIM YOUR WINNING PRIZE:
1.Full Name:...............................................................
2.Address:..................................................................
3.Nationality:............................................................. .
4.Age:.........................Date of Birth:..........................................
5.Occupation:..............................................................
6.Phone:...............Phone 2:...................Fax:.................
7.State of Origin:......................Country:........................

 
 
 
Please every correspondence should be sent to the email address provided below:
 
In Attention of Rev. Mike Charles
 
 
Sincerely,
Mrs. Maurrine C. Anner
Secretary  
                                               
           
                                                               
      Dr. Angela Georgetown                                       Mrs. Maurrine C. Anner
              Online Co-ordinator                                                Secretary      
 
                                    
                                       LOTTERY SPONSOR   
                                                   Microsoft Corporation U.K ..
                                                                 2007
--

Anti-fraud resources: