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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:

• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "microsoft lottery" (no such lottery exists)
  • "20 craven park, harlesden" (address often used in fake lottery scams)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "million united states dollars" (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)
  • ",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)
  • "00,000.00" (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.
  • +27763287420 (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.
  • infomicrosoftclaimdept@tsamail.co.za

Fraud email example:

From: MICROSOFT LOTTERY PROMOTION 2008 <microlotteryza@games.com>
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:34:34 +0200
Subject: Congratulations you have won!!! (Microsoft Award 2008)



MICROSOFT INTERNET PROMOTION
Microsoft Award Team
20 Craven Park, Harlesden Cape TownSouth Africa Batch No: 409978ERef No: BTD/988/04Winning No:W77450T CONGRATULATION! CONGRATULATION!! CONGRATULATION!!! Dear Winner, The prestigious Microsoft/MSN has set out and successfully organised a Sweepstakes marking the year 2008 anniversary. Rolled out over $300,000,000.00 for this year Anniversary Draws. Participants for the draws were randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of web hosting which we enjoy their patronage. The MICROSOFT 2008 PROMOTIONS was held on 30th of May 2008 in Water-Front, Cape-Town South Africa. Your email address have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of ($1M) One million United States Dollars Only in cash credited to File KPC/9030108308/03. To file for your claim, please contact your Claiming Agent immediately. Name: Mr. Jack Mashaba Tel: + 27 76 328 7420
Email: infomicrosoftclaimdept@tsamail.co.za Please provide the following details for processing of your claim.


*VERIFICATION FORM*

1, Names in full:
2, Country of Residing:
3, Nationality:
4, Residential Address:
5, Date of Birth/Age:
6, Marital Statue/Sex:
7, Tel/Fax:
8, Mobile No:
9, Occupation:
10, Company:
11, Amount Won:
12, Email address:
13, Ref No:


14, Winning No:
*MICROSOFT LOTTERY PROMOTION 2008* Microsoft has obtained your contact details from public internet sources. We thought that you could be attracted to be part of this promotion with our company© Copyright 2008 Microsoft Lottery promotion All Right Reserve"



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam