419 scam: "GOOGLE INC."<info@gglanniversary.com> 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:
- "hundred thousand great british 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)
- "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)
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.
- +447017962473 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- +447017917097 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "GOOGLE INC." (may be fake)
Reply-To: < gglclaims1@live.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:22:49 +0530
Subject: Congratulations!!

Google 12th Anniversary Awards Centre,
Belgrave House, Buckingham Palace Rd.
London SW1W 9TQ, United Kingdom

Congratulations!!

We are pleased to inform you that your email address attached to file No: G12/B-1/2010 with award reference no: GGL2010/114/M-12 has been selected to receive an award of Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds (£500,000.00) first batch of Google 12th Anniversary Awards as organized by the Anniversary Centre of Google Inc., held on January 7th, 2011 in the United Kingdom.

Google Inc randomly selected 12 email addresses through a computer ballot system to receive £ 500,000.00 prize money each as a part of their -profit philanthropic wing (GOOGLE.ORG) promotion. The prize won MUST be claimed by the email owner ONLY, not later than 12 days from the date of notification.

Send your complete personal information with your award ref. and file no. to enable us process your claim;

1. Full name:
2. Country :
3. Contact Address:
4. Telephone or Mobile
5. Marital Status:
6. Occupation:
7. Sex:
8. Age:
9. Email:

Dr. John Smith
Director of Operations & Award Co-ordinator
Tel: +44 701 791 7097 +44701 796 2473
Email: gglclaims1@live.co.uk
Please do not reply if you are NOT the owner of this email address.

Congratulations!! Sincerely Yours,

Google Management
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Larry Page and Sergey Brin committed 1% of Google's equity, 1% of profits, employee time, and in-kind giving of products and services to doing good. Keep your award information confidential to avoid double claims.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam