419 scam: "GOOGLE END OF YEAR PROMOTIONS" <google@info.com> GOOGLE SAY'S CONGRATULATIONS

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million pounds" (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)
- ",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)
- "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!

Fraud email example:

From: "GOOGLE END OF YEAR PROMOTIONS" <google@info.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: our.gift@sify.com
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:03:30 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: GOOGLE SAY'S CONGRATULATIONS

Google Incorporations
Stamford New Road,
Altrincham Cheshire,
WA14 1EP
London,
United Kingdom.

GOOGLE END OF YEAR WINNING NOTIFICATION.

We wish to congratulate you once again on this note, for being part of our
winners selected this year. This promotion was set-up to encourage the
active users of the Google search engine and the Google ancillary
services.

Hence we do believe with your winning prize, you will continue to be
active and patronage to the Google search engine.Google is now the biggest
search engine worldwide and in an effort to make sure that it remains the
most widely used search engine, we ran an online e-mail beta test which
your email address won £1,000,000,00 One Million Pounds.

We wish to formally announce to you that you have successfully passed the
requirements, statutory obligations, verifications, validations and
satisfactory report Test conducted for all online winners.

A winning cheque will be issued in your name by the Google Promotion Award
Team, You have therefore won the entire sum of £1,000,000,00 One Million
Pounds

You are required to fill then VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM.

(1) Your Full Name.
(2) Your Tel/Fax numbers.
(3) Your Nationality/Country.
(4) Your contact address.
(5) Occupation/Age.

The Google Promotion Award Team has discovered a huge number of double
claims due to winners informing close friends relatives and third parties
about their winning and also sharing their pin numbers. As a result of
this, these friends try to claim the lottery on behalf of the real
winners.

The Google Promotion Award Team has reached a decision from headquarters
that any double claim discovered by the Lottery Board will result to the
canceling of that particular winning, making a loss for both the double
claimer and the real winner, as it is taken that the real winner was the
informer to the double claimer about the lottery. So you are hereby
strongly advised once more to keep your winnings strictly confidential
until you claim your prize.

Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of the Google interactive
Lotteries Board Commission.

Sincerely,
Ray Roberts.
Google Incorporations

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam