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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:
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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:
  • ",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.
  • +447045711694 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447045731811 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: jonathan_luxconsultant@live.com
Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:54:21 -0400
Subject: jonathan_luxconsultant@live.com

MICROSOFT MEGA JACKPOT LOTTERY
MICROSOFT HOUSE PRESCOT,
LONDON E1 8RP. UNITED KINGDOM.


REF NO: M154S/WL06.
MICRO (LOTTERY) CHIP NO: 9465206

Dear Mr/Mrs/Sir/Madam:

Today, we announce the 10 lucky winners of the MICROSOFT NEW YEAR LOTTERY PROGRAM held on 2nd of September 2008. Your
company or your personal e-mail address, attached to the Chip Number: 9465206, won in the First lottery category 001.
Your email address has brought you an unexpected luck, please read through this message.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £1,000,000 GBP (One Million Great Britain Pounds) in cash
credited to file MSW/9080118308/02/LA. This is from a total cash prize of £10.000,000 GBP (Ten Million Great Britain
Pounds) shared amongst the ten (10) lucky winners. All participants were selected randomly from "World Wide Web" site
through Microsoft computer ballot system (MCBS) and extracted from over 100,000 individuals and companies.

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and
money remitted to you in the manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is a part of our precautionary measure to
avoid unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements.

Note that all claims process and clearance procedures must be duly completed early to avoid impersonation arising to the
issue of double claim, you are advised to keep this notice to yourself because we shall not be responsible for any
divert of funds as a result of you disclosing your lottery award details,I hereby advice you to report to the Microsoft
lottery clearance agent whose information is stated below:

Contact Person:Jonathan Lux
Email:jonathan_luxconsultant@live.com
Tell.: +44 7045711694
Fax: +44-70457-318-11

Do email or call the above mentioned person, at once with all the claims requirements below.

In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications.

CLAIMS PROCESSING FORM
FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
GENDER:
CITY:
STATE/PROVINCE:
ZIP CODE:
COUNTRY:
REF. NO:
CHIP NUMBER:
DATE OF BIRTH:
OCCUPATION:
PHONE:
WINNER'S E-MAIL ADDRESS:

The above requirements are needed to enable the immediate release of your won prize.

Best Regards,
Mrs. Edlyn Albert
(Secretary)
Microsoft Mega Jackpot Lottery

NOTE: Do not reply this mail. You are to contact your claims processor immediately via email or fax. Have it in mind
that this is not a Scam, You can call for confirmation of winning by telling us your CHIP NUMBER.

WARNING!!!

ANY MAIL RECEIVED OF THIS SUCH WITH ANY OTHER TRADE MARK OR ADDRESS SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO YOUR CLAIMS PROCESSOR
IMMEDIATELY; THIS WILL HELP US TO FIGHT SCAM AND LOTTERY IMPOSTERS.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANTICIPATED CO-OPERATION.

Microsoft Mega Jackpot Lottery, property of the Microsoft Inc.Copyright® 2007. All Rights reserved.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam