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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
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "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)
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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!
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: contract <info@microsoft.co.uk>
Reply-To: barr.michaelbrown@windowslive.com
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:42:35 +0300
Subject: OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION.

Microsoft Corporation,
40 Ryecroft Way Stopsley ,
London SW1E 5JL
England UNITED KINGDOM
FILE REF: HL/5564/06/07/MICS
BATCH: MC11/834/5PDH /E

OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION.

We wish to use this medium to congratulate you over your success in this year’s annual promotion of results of the E-mail electronic online Sweepstakes organized by Microsoft Corporation, in conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of software products, (F.P.S.) held recently in the United Kingdom.

The main reason for this promotion is to enhance and encourage the use of the web, Trust, Confidence and Knowledge Base of Microsoft users. Your email address luckily emerged as one of the online Winning email addresses in the 2nd category and therefore attracted a cash prize of 450,000.00(four hundred and fifty Thousand pounds sterling).
Our winners are arranged into four categories with different winning prizes accordingly in each category. They are arranged in this format below:

CATEGORY NO.OF WINNERS WINNING PRIZES
1st. 2 500,000.00 Pounds each
2nd. 8 450,000.00 Pounds each
3rd. 13 350,000.00 Pounds each
4th. 27 170,000.00 Pounds each

We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to contact the processing office immediately upon receipt of this message for more Information concerning the verification, processing and eventual 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.

These are your identification numbers:
(1) Award numbers: PQ 63/1268
(2) Email ticket numbers: EW3CA-142527
(3) Batch numbers: MC11/834/2CAT /W3C
(4) The file reference numbers: HL/7774/43/07/W3CS
{5} Serial Numbers: MQST/006/NL46588

For verification purpose be sure to include:
(1) YOUR FULL NAME:
(2) YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS:
(3) YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER/FAX NUMBER:
(4) YOUR NATIONALITY/COUNTRY:
(5) GENDER:
(6) DATE OF BIRTH:
(7) OCCUPATION:
(8) EVER WON/RECEIVED ONLINE LOTTERY:
(9) EMAIL ADDRESS:
(10)Choose Your Preferred Method of Receiving Your Price (From Below)
Mode of Price Remittance.
(1)COURIER DELIVERY (Courier Delivery Of your Certified Winning Cheque and other Winning Documents safely to you.)
(2)SWIFT BANK TRANSFER
(3)CASH PICK UP (You coming Down to UK Personally to Pick Your Price).

To file for your claim, Please contact your Claims Representative for VALIDATION of your winning within Twenty-nine working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are not validated within Twenty-nine working days of winning notification are termed void and invalid. You are required to mention the above Particulars of your award in every correspondence to enable the Agent validate your winning.
CONTACT:
**************************************************************************************************************************************
Barrister Michael Brown
E-mail: msc-r0002009@windowslive.com
Claims/Legal Representative
Microsoft 2009 Annual Promotion
Land Line: 00 4487 150 39 997
Direct Line:00 4470 240 80 584
***************************************************************************************************************************************
The Microsoft internet E-mail draw is held periodically.

Once again on behalf of all our staff,

Yours Sincerely,
Mr.Fredrick Contract
M.S.PROMOTION. WORLD COORDINATOR.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam