419 scam: "UK MICROSOFT CORPORATION AWARD 2012" <susan.carlos@ymail.com> Dear Winner,

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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:
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "awardaward2011@yahoo.in" (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.
- +22967161238 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "UK MICROSOFT CORPORATION AWARD 2012" <susan.carlos@ymail.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: awardaward2011@yahoo.in
Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 04:34:45 +1000 (EST)
Subject: Dear Winner,

Dear Winner,
We write to inform You that your email address has won a price in our
Microsoft end of year promotion for Internet Users which was drawn in
Cotonou Republic of Benin - West Africa. Your email address has been
selected and was attached to our Microsoft end of year Promotion for
Internet Users and you fall a winner on the 4th category scad-led for
2010-2012 section. In this regards we write to announce to you that you
have won the total sum €2, 000,000,00 (two Million Euro) in our Microsoft
end of year promotion.

Bellow is your winning information;

Your Batch #15558.
Your Titled name, winner #2.
Your Reference #: ES/NP/CC/10.

You are required to send us the bellow information's as indicated bellow:

Your full name: ............
Address: ...................
Country of origin: ...........
Age and Sex: ...........
Telephone / Fax #: ..........
Occupation.................
A Passport Copy, or ID card: ......

We anticipated to hear from you as urgent as possible in other to enable
us process your winning price, and a confirmation receipt and the winning
Certificate will be forwarded to you as you indicate an option in which
your winning price will be sent to you VIA electric wire transfer or by
cheque.

Congratulations and best regards,
(MRS) Mary John
Coordinator Microsoft Auditorium Union.
*************************************************************************
Contact Director. Rev.Tony Paul with the bellow information:
Tel/Fax: +229 67161238.
Email: awardaward2011@yahoo.in
............................................................................................

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam