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"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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: desk.ofdavidoliver@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 15:40:40 -0300
Subject: Microsoft Email Alert

Dear Sir/ Madam,

The prestigious Microsoft and AOL has set out and successfully organized a
Sweepstakes marking the year 2008 anniversary we rolled out over US$
400,419,864 for our End of year Anniversary Draws. Participants for the
draws were randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of web hosts which
we enjoy their patronage.

The selection was made through a computer draw system attaching
personalized email addresses to ticket numbers. If you ignore this massage,
you will defiantly regret it later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest
Internet companies & in effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remain
the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta
test. Your email address as indicated was drawn and attached to reference
and ticket number 008795727498 with serial numbers MIC-AOL/8302/08 and
drew the lucky numbers 14-18-25-39-53-47 (10) which subsequently won you £
1,000,000 ( One Million Great Britain Pounds) as one of the jackpot
winner in this draw. You have therefore won the entire winning sum of £
1,000,000 (One Million Great Britain Pounds) the draws registered as Draw
number one was conducted in Liverpool, UK on the 1st of December, 2008.
These Draws are commemorative and as such special.

Please be informed by this winning notification to file your claims
immediately. You are advised to make contact to your referred agent who
shall by duty guide you through the process to facilitate the release of
your winning prize. To file for this claims, Please Contact your referred
agent with your verification information as required on the form below,
beginning the claims of your winnings funds as conducted by the lottery
company.

We dedicate our special thanks & gratitude to Bill Gates {Now Retired from
Microsoft Corporations} .We wish you the best of luck as you spend your
good fortune in this season.

Note: You have Two (2) weeks from the date of this publication to claim
your prize or you may forfeit your winnings. Thank you for being part of
our commemorative mid-year Anniversary Draws.

Find below your referred agent and the verification form:

Address: 18 SOUTH DRIVE, HEPWORTH,DISS,NORFOLK, IP22 2HF, UK.
Contact Agent: Mr. David Oliver
Tel: +44-702 409 4558
Email: desk.ofdavidoliver@yahoo.com.hk

Name: ..................................
Country of Origin.......................
Place of Residence......................
Occupation..............................
Sex/Age.................................
Telephone/Fax...........................
Winning Email ID........................

NOTE: DUE TO FRAUDSTERS, WE HAVE DECIDED TO EFFECT TRANSFER TO YOUR BANK
ACCOUNT ONLY AND WHEN CONTACTING YOUR REFERRED AGENT, DO QUOTE YOUR TICKET
NUMBER AND SERIAL NUMBER FOR SECURITY REASONS.

Jim Cullinna
Public Relations Officer
Microsoft Corporation



Anti-fraud resources: