419 scam: "Sergey Brin"<award@google.com> WINNING NUMBER:GUK/877/798/0147

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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:
- "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. )
- "claims.departmentverification@yahoo.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: "Sergey Brin" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <claims.departmentverification@yahoo.cn>
Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 19:38:57 -0200
Subject: WINNING NUMBER:GUK/877/798/0147

Google Corporation
Belgrave House
76 Buckingham
Palace Road
London SW1W 9TQ
United Kingdom

Dear Winner

WINNING NUMBER:GUK/877/798/0147

BATCH NUMBER:GUK/699/33/1977

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but please find time to read it carefully.We wish to congratulate you once again on this note, for being the winner selected this year.Reason is to set-up and to encourage the active use of the Google search engine and the Google ancillary services.

Hence we do believe with your winning prize, you will continue to be active and patronage to the Google search engine. Google is now the biggest search engine worldwide
and in an effort to make sure that it remains the most widely used search engine, we ran an online e-mail beta test which your email address won 450,000.00(Four Hundred And Fifty Thousand Great British Pounds Sterling) We wish to formally announce to you that you have successfully passed the requirements, statutory obligations,verifications, validations and satisfactory report Test conducted for all online winners.

A winning cheque will be issued in your name by Google Corporation,You have therefore won the entire sum of of 450,000.00Gbp (Four Hundred And Fifty Thousand Great British Pounds Sterling) and also a certificate of prize claims will be sent along side your winning cheque.You are advised to contact the Foreign Transfer Manager with the following details to avoid unnecessary delay and complications:

Google Corporation
Verification Manager.
Mr.Phiilip Adams
Email: (verification_dep@foxmail.com)
(claims.departmentverification@yahoo.cn)

VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM.
(1) Your contact address.

(2) Your Tel/Fax numbers.

(3) Your Nationality/Country.

(4) Your Full Name/Sex.

(5) Occupation/Age.

(6)How do you feel as a winner?

The Google Corporation 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 Google Corporations 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.

Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of the Google Interactive Lotteries Board Commission.

Yours Sincerely,
Sergey Brin.
2011 Google Corporation

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam