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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
• 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.
  • +447024058382 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +447024095665 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • solarislekoko@hotmail.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • aligdasantos1@hotmail.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: aligdasantos1@hotmail.co.uk
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:12:02 +0200
Subject: CONTACT YOUR AGENT NOW




Microsoft E-mail Promotion
Microsoft House Prescott
London E1 8RP,
United Kingdom.

Ref: ldn/5563/40/06/uk
Batch: mcst/11/836/52dn/uk
Award: ldn/56/7762
Ticket: ldn/553/26/97
Serial: ldn/006/4656/uk.

Our Ref: mcstldn/uk.

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your success in the following official publication of results of the E-mail electronic online Sweepstakes held yesterday, organized by Microsoft London UK, in conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of software products F.P.S wherein your electronic email address emerged as one of the online winning emails in the 2nd category and therefore attracted a cash award of £1.mGBP (One Million British. Your file falls in our London Claim office. Our winners are arranged into three categories with different winning prizes accordingly in each category. 1st, 2nd and 3rd category.

We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to contact the processing department immediately upon the receipt of this message for more information concerning the verification, processing and for immediate payment of the above prize to you.

It is important to note that your award information was released with the following particulars attached to it.

Claim verification Form:
Full Name(s).....................................................................
Address:...........................................................................
Country:...........................................................................
Phone no:........................Fax: no:....................................
Gender:.............................your category........................
Marital Status:..................................................................
Age:...........................Amount won:..................................
Occupation:......................................................................
Email Address:..................................................................
Batch no:..........................................................................
Award no:.........................................................................
Ticket no:..........................................................................
Serial no:..........................................................................
Ref. no:............................................................................

To file for your claim, Please contact your Claim Agent for more information of your winning within 14 working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are not claimed within fourteen working days of this winning notification are termed void and invalid. You are required to mention the above particulars of your award in every correspondence to enable your Agent in London validate your winning.

Contact your Agent now:
Name: Mr. Solaris Lekoko
Microsoft House Prescott
London E1 8RP
United Kingdom
Email:solarislekoko@hotmail.co.uk
Tel.: +44 702 405 8382.
Fax :+44 702 409 5665.
Privacy Statement:
The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Award Program is sponsored by the CEOs, the NGOs and a group of Software Promotion Companies (SPC). The Intel Group, Toshiba, Dell Computers and other International Companies. The Microsoft Internet E-mail draw is held periodically and is organized to encourage the use of the Internet and promote computer literacy worldwide.

N/B: All Winnings must be claimed not later than 14 days; thereafter all unclaimed prizes would indefinitely be annulled!

On behalf of all our staff, we say

CONGRATULATIONS!
Yours Faithfully
Ms. Mary Rose.
aligdasantos1@hotmail.co.uk

Secretary Microsoft E-mail Promotion.

Copyright © 1994-2008 The Microsoft Company London UK. All rights reserved, Terms and conditions apply.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam