419 scam: "MICROSOFT PROMOTIONAL AWARD" <microsoftpromotionalaward@blumail.org> MICROSOFT WINNING NOTIFICATION.

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "microsoft lottery" (no such lottery exists)
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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. )
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 free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- fiduciaryoffice11@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "MICROSOFT PROMOTIONAL AWARD" <microsoftpromotionalaward@blumail.org>
Reply-To: winner222@blumail.org
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 03:22:20 +0800
Subject: MICROSOFT WINNING NOTIFICATION.

Microsoft Promotion Award Team
Dr.Helen Gibson
Stamford New Road,
Altrincham Cheshire
WA14 1EP
London.
United Kingdom.

MICROSOFT WINNING NOTIFICATION.

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but please
find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your success in the
following official publication of results of the E-mail electronic online Sweepstakes
organized by Microsoft, in conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of
software products, (F.P.S.) held this month in London United Kingdom. Where your email
address emerged as one of the online Winning emails in the 2nd category and therefore
attracted a cash award of 650,000.00GBP {Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand Great British
Pounds Sterling}.

The selection process was carried out through random selection in our Computerized
Email Selection System (C.E.S.S.) from a database of over a million email addresses
from each continent of the world wide web drawn from all the continents of the world.

They are arranged in this format below:

CATEGORY NO.OF WINNERS WINNING PRIZES
1st. (2) 1.000.000.00 pounds each
2nd. (9) 650,000.00 pounds each
3rd. (13) 450,000.00 pounds each
4th. (27) 350,000.00 pounds each

We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to contact the
processing office immediately upon receipt of this message for more information
concerning the verification, processing and eventual payment of the above prize to you.
It is important to note that your award information was released with the following
particulars attached to it.

(1) Award numbers: MLAT#2010
(2) Email ticket numbers: 1587-5896-4598-87,
(3) Batch numbers: 850THL#2010
(4) The file reference numbers: MLY-Y/250-450890
(5) Serial Numbers: McST/776/ML10101

For verification purpose be sure to include:
VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM-:
1. Full Names:
2. Sex:
3. Age:
4. Marital Status:
5. Nationality:
6. Residential Address: :
7. Occupation:
8. Telephone Number:
9. Fax Number:
10. Have you ever won an Online Lottery ?

Mode Of Prize Remittance: Courier Delivery Of your Certified Winning Cheque and other
Winning Documents safely to you.

To file for your claim, Please contact your Validating Officer for VALIDATION of your
winning within Twenty-nine working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are
not validated within Twenty-nine working days of winning notification are termed void
and invalid. You are required to mention the above particulars of your award in every
correspondence to enable the Agent validate your winning.

***********************************************************
FOREIGN TRANSFER MANAGER
MR. RICHARD SAMFORD
MICROSOFT SECURITY DEPARTMENT (UK).
M.S.PRO. ZONAL COORDINATOR
Email: fiduciaryoffice11@yahoo.com.hk

***********************************************************

The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Awards is sponsored by our CEO/Chairman, Bill
Gates and a consortium of software promotion companies. The Intel Group, Toshiba, Dell
Computers and other International Companies. The Microsoft internet E-mail draw is held
periodically and is organized to encourage the use of the Internet and promote computer
literacy worldwide. The Microsoft Window lottery has discovered a huge number of double
claims due to winners informing close friends relatives and third parties about their
winning and also sharing their pin numbers.

As a result of this, these friends try to claim the lottery on behalf of the real
winners. The Microsoft lottery has reached a decision from headquarters that any double
claim discovered by the Lottery Board will result to the Canceling of that particular
winning, making a loss for both the double claimer and the real winner, as it is taken
that the real winner was the informer to the double claimer about the lottery. So you
are hereby strongly advised once more to keep your winnings strictly confidential until
you claim your prize.

Once again on behalf of all our staff,

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Sincerely,

MICROSOFT DIRECTORATE UNIT
M.S.PRO. ZONAL COORDINATOR.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam