419 scam: The Microsoft Award Team <nationalb@rocketmail.com> CONGRATULATION ! CONGRATULATION ! ! CONGRATULATION !

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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:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million united states dollars" (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)
- "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)
- "johnsonsmith@movmail.com" (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!
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447014232154 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: The Microsoft Award Team <nationalb@rocketmail.com>
Reply-To: johnsonsmith@movmail.com
Date: 10 Jul 2010 13:54:59 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATION ! CONGRATULATION ! ! CONGRATULATION !

The Microsoft Award Team
Morley House, 26-30 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BP.U.K.

Batch Nos: 3566465021-0TA/06.
Ref Nos: 919347/749-0.
Winning Nos: 7-28-87-65-69-73.

CONGRATULATION ! CONGRATULATION ! ! CONGRATULATION ! ! !

Dear Lucky Winner Get ed traffic to your web site!
The prestigious Microsoft / MSN has set out and successfully organized a Sweepstakes marking the year 2010 anniversary,. Then rolled out over US$ 900,000,000.00 (Nine Hundred Million U. S. Dollars Only) for this year's Anniversary Draws. Email addresses of participants for the draws were randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of internet web hosting which we enjoy their patronage.

The MICROSOFT 2010 INTERNET PROMOTIONS was held in this very Month of this year 2010 in Stamford Bridge Stadium London United Kingdom.

Your email address has therefore been approved to claim a total sum of (US$ 1,000.000.00 (One Million United States Dollars Only) in cash credited to File NO: KTU/9023118308/03.

To file for your claim Contact your Claims Agent immediately through his contact information as follows:

Contact Person:Mr Johnson Smith
Direct Tel:+447014232154
Contact e Mail:johnsonsmith@movmail.com

Please provide the following details for processing of your claim.
VERIFICATION FORM.
1, Names in full:
2, Country of Residence:
3, Nationality:
4, Residential Address:
5, Date of Birth/Age:
6, Marital Status/Sex:
7, Telephone /Fax No:
8, Mobile No:
9, Occupation:
10, Company name:

11, Monthly Income:
12, Amount Won:
13, Email address:
14, Ref No:
15, Winning No:
16, Batch Nos:
N.B: PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS MESSAGE BUT CONTACT YOUR CLAIM AGENT MR. JOHNSON SMITH IMMEDIATELY. NOTE YOU MUST CONTACT THE CLAIM AGENT ONLY FROM YOUR "YAHOO IDs" AND "HOT-MAIL IDs,AOL ID" OR "G MAIL IDs" ACCORDING TO THE RULES OF THIS LOTTERY PROCESS. THANK YOU !
Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Grace Sander.
Online coordinator
For MICROSOFT INTERNET PROMOTIONS.

Sweepstakes International Program
Copyright Â© 1994-2010 The Microsoft Internet Promotions
All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guidelines.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam