419 scam: "British Microsoft Award" <eparhiya@selena.kherson.ua> =?ISO-8859-1?B?ozE=?=,500,000.00 GBP FROM CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIAr MillioPŒë¸"

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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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- ",500,000" (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)
- "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)
- "u.k " (this email uses bad English)
- "micirosoft200@w.cn" (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: "British Microsoft Award" <eparhiya@selena.kherson.ua>
Reply-To: micirosoft200@w.cn
Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:25:10 +0200
Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?B?ozE=?=,500,000.00 GBP

YAHOO AWARDS CENTER.
BRITISH MICROSOFT E-MAIL SELECT AWARD FROM HEAD OFFICES LONDON.
British Microsoft Award
Headquarters: Customer service
68 Newman Street. City,
London. Country,
United Kingdom. Postal/Zip Code,
W1T 3EF

Attn: WINNER,

Your email addresses have just won a YAHOO & WINDOWS LIVE prize money of
£1,500,000.00 GBP

BRITISH POUNDS STERLING) (£1,500,000.00 GBP )

Award winners emerge through random selection of all active email subscribers
online. Six are selected

monthly to benefit from this promotion.

Payment Of Prize And Claim

Winners are to be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Center. This
Prize Award must be claimed

in not later than one month from date of draw notification after which
unclaimed prizes are cancelled.

WINNER NO: 4

these are your identification numbers:

Batch Number: YPB/08/APA-43658

Reference Number: YPN560992008

Award File Security code: UK/+ QU34005

These numbers fall within the United Kingdom file. Thus, you are requested to
contact our fiduciary

agent in United Kingdom and send your winning identification numbers to him:

CONTACT INFORMATION OF OUR AGENT IN UNITED KINGDOM:

NAME MR. James West

E-mail: micirosoft200@w.cn

Kindly send the following information to your claim agent to facilitate the
release of your fund.

1. Full name...............................................

2. Country..........................................................

3. Telephone

4. Fax Number...........................................................

5.
Sex........................................................................

6. Date of birth............................................................

7. Marital Status...........................................................

8. E-Mail Address:

9.
Occupation.................................................................

10. Contact Address.........................................................

11. Copy of your International passport or Drivers license......

Once your agent acknowledges receipt of this required detail, transfer would
commence.

Congratulations!! Once Again.

Yours in service,

[Prof John Martins] [Mrs. Mary E. Chris]

[British Microsoft Award Manager] [British Microsoft Award Secretary]

NOTE

You are hereby advised not to disclose the content of this Prize Award until
your money have been remitted to you to avoid

disqualification that will arise from dual claim.

[Signed By: Dr. A. W. George]

Lottery Board Director

Head Office U.K

BELOW IS OUR RECENT SELECTED AWARD WINNER OF MICRO-SOFT EMAIL WHO HAS ALL
CLAIMED THEIR WINNING

PRICE FROM OUR HEAD OFFICE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam