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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Microsoft Award" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <onlineclaim20111@live.com>
Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 10:34:33 -0500
Subject: Microsoft Winning Notice! Congratulations

Dear Internet User !
Congratulations Please Read Carefully
We are glad to inform you that Microsoft Organization Inc has awarded the sum of one million euros (€1,000,000.00) to your email with reference number #653-908-321-675 for being a very frequent web user.

Note: All participants in this Microsoft program was selected randomly through Microsoft system drawn from over 50,000 Companies and 20,000,000 individual Names, email addresses from all web sites worldwide database.The Microsoft Organization Inc promotional program has been insured and it is been sponsored by eminent personalities founder of Microsoft Bill Gates,United Nation,Arab League,European Union,Echina site and other corporate organizations.

In your best interest and also to avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind, we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly from public notice.You are required to send your full contact details for further processing.Via our Email: onlinesclaim20111@live.com

(1) Full Names:.
(2) Address:.
(3) Country of Origin:.
(4) Date of Birth:.
(5) Sex:.
(6) Marital Status:.
(7) Telephone and fax number:.
(8) Occupation:.
(9) Scan your international passport /or valid driving license,
(10) Reference number:

Copyright © 1994-2011,Microsoft Organization Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guideline.

Anti-fraud resources: