419 scam: "Mr. David Branson"<info@googleaward.com> Google Notification / Ref: Mcs/968/678/123/10?

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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:
- "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)
- "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. )
- "margarethawis001@live.co.uk" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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: "Mr. David Branson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <Margarethawis001@live.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:37:37 +0100
Subject: Google Notification / Ref: Mcs/968/678/123/10?

<HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgcolor=#FFFFFF leftmargin=5 topmargin=5 rightmargin=5 bottommargin=5>
<FONT size=2 color=#000000 face="Arial">
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Google Corporation</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Belgrave House</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">76 Buckingham Palace Road</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">London SW1W 9TQ</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">United Kingdom on</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Ref: Mcs/968/678/123/10</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier"><U>GOOGLE CORPORATION:</U></FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Dear. Winner,</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">This is to notify all online customers that Google is 12'th years; Google became a Corporation on September 27, 1998. This Corporation was established to encourage individual that are active Users of Google search engine and Google ancillary service. Google is currently the world leading search engine worldwide,and is vigorously making more effort to make sure the reputation of the company stands out to be the best among the rest, with the optimize help of our customers worldwide. We wish to congratulate you once again, for being selected on the ongoing 11'th Anniversary.</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Google Corporation highly believe that with your prize, you will always be active and also A total sum of ?460,000, 00 GBP {Four Hundred and Sixty Thousand Great British Pounds}have been issued out by Google Corporation. A winning cheque will be issued in your name and also a certificate of prize claim will be sent along side with your winning cheque.</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">CATEGORY NO.OF WINNERS WINNING PRIZES</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">1st. 2 ? 800,000.00 pounds each</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">2nd. 8 ? 460.000.00 pounds each</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">3rd. 13 ? 250,000.00 pounds each</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">CLAIMS REQUIREMENTS:</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">1. Full names:</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">2. Residential address:</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">3. Phone number:</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">4. Fax number:</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">5. Occupation:</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">6. Sex:</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">7. Age:</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">8. Nationality:</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">9. Present Country:</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Mode Of Prize Remintance.</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">(1)Cash Pick-Up (You coming Down to UK Personally to Pick Your Price).</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">(2)Courier Delivery Of your Certified Winning Cheque Name and other Winning Documents safely to you.</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">You are advised to contact your Foreign Transfer Manager with the following details Below to avoid</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">unnecessary delay and complications.</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Foreign Transfer Manager</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Mrs. Margareth Hawis</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Google Corporations.</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">EMAIL: </FONT><FONT size=3 color=#0000FF face="Courier"><U>Margarethawis001@live.co.uk</U></FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Note: This is an New Year giveaway for 2010 and also our Anniversary for 2010 section Only,no part of this email is to be misused or sent by unauthorised persons if found offensive kindly email us. For more information:</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 color=#0000FF face="Courier"><U>googleverificationuni@xmasanniversary.com</U></FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of the Google Board Commission 2010 Google Corporation.</FONT><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">Sincerely,</FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">MR. David Branson </FONT><BR>
<FONT size=3 face="Courier">LOTTERY.ZONAL COORDINATOR.</FONT></DIV>
</FONT>
</BODY></HTML>

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam