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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 corporation word lottery" (no such lottery exists)
  • "ms-word lotto" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims office" (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)
  • "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.
  • +447045715417 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: hilton mark <hilton_mark70@msn.com>
Reply-To: <hilton_mark000@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:39:26 +0000
Subject:




FROM: THE DESK OF THE E-MAIL PROMOTIONS MANAGERINTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZEAWARD DEPARTMENT, MICROSOFT CORPORATION WORD LOTTERYUNITED KINGDOM.61-70 Southampton Row,Bloomsbury London United Kingdom WC1B 4AR.REFERENCE NO: MSW-L/200-26937BATCH NO: 2008AUGNTL#22WINNER NO: 7ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATIONAWARD PRESENTATION CENTER: UNITED KINGDOMWINNING NOTIFICATION!
Dear Sir/ Madam,
We the MICROSOFT COOPERATION MANAGEMENT WORLDWIDE arepleased to inform you of the today's winners of ourannual MS-WORD LOTTO LOTTERY conducted in LONDON BEING THEHOST OF THE EVENT FOR THIS PRESENT YEAR MEGA JACKPOT LOTTOWINNING PROGRAMS HELD ON month of 30TH AUGUST, 2008.Your Personal E-mail address or Company email is attachedto WINNER NO 7: Aug-2008-02MSW, with serial number S/N-00168drew the lucky numbers 887-13-865-37-10-83, and consequentlywon in the first lottery category. You have therefore beenapproved for lump sums pay ofGBP £500,000.00 ( ( Fivehundred Thousand Pounds Sterling) in cash Credited to fileREF NO:MSW-L/200-26937 this is from total prize money of GBP10,000,000.00 POUNDS, shared among the Twenty (20) luckyinternational winners in first and second category.All participants were selected from Worldwide Websitesespecially yahoo mail through our Microsoft computer ballotsystem drawn from 21,000 Names, 3,000 names from eachcontinent (Canada, Asia, Australia, United state, Europe,Middle East, Africa and Oceania, as part of International"E-MAIL" Promotions Program, Which is conductedannually for our prominent MS -WORD users all over theworld, and to encourage the use of Internet and Computersworldwide.Your fund (certified cheque) has been insured with your REFNO: MSW-L/200-26937 and will be ready for delivery. It willbe delivered to you by one of our Paymaster Staff in chargeof Asia zone (Dr. kenvin matins). Your E-mail address shouldbe used in all correspondence with your claims officer,please Note that, you are to contact your claims officer viaemail and phone as we are promoting the use of E-mail. Alsoyou have the right to call him to confirm your winnings andgovernment tax payment that is all, as he will provide youwith the necessary details on how to claim your prize.You are to keep your ref. number and batch number from thepublic, until you have been processed and your prize moneydelivered to you. This is part of our security protocol toavoid double claiming and the act of scamming people oftheir ref number and prizes. We hope with a part of yourprize, you will participate in our next year High stakes ofUS$0.1 billion International Lottery. To claim your winningprize, you must first contact our London claims departmentby email for Processing and remittance of your prize moneyto you.THE PAYMENT MASTER OFFICER CONTACT EMAIL IS:Dr. Hilton Mark(PAYMENT MASTER)EMAIL:hilton_mark000@hotmail.comTELL: +447045715417
Remember, all prize money must be claimed not later thanthe 2Oth SEPTEMBER, 2008. All funds not Claimed on or beforethe fixed date will be returned as Unclaimed and donated tocharity organization in Africa.NOTE:In order to avoid unnecessary delays andcomplications, please remember to quote your reference andbatch numbers in all correspondences with your claimsofficer. Do not reply any other mails like this on net, asthey are a lot of scam artist out there pretending to be us.You may see mails like this do not reply. Do contact yourclaims officer DR. kelvin matins. At once you will be askedto provide some details to enable the office proceed withyour winning certificate and file keeping.Congratulations, once more from the entire Management andStaff of Microsoft Cooperation to all our lucky winners thisyear. Thank you for being part of this promotional lotteryprogram. Our special thanks and gratitude to Bill Gate ofMicrosoft and all his Associates for alleviating povertyround the World.Sincerely,MrS. SALIFAT UMARO Mrs. KATE JACKSON(Co-ordinator). (Secretary)LOTTERY SPONSORS: CHIEF SPONSORS;
MICROSOFT CORPORATION UK,

MICROSOFT CORPORATION AFRICA,MICROSOFT CORPORATION USA,

MICROSOFT CORPORATION ASIA

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam