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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Microsoft Uk Board" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tamer-ozmen@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 May 2018 15:38:02 -0700
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!



We wish to congratulate you once again on this note, for being part of
our winners selected this year in the Microsoft 2018 Anniversary award
promotion held here in United Kingdom. For your winning payment claims
you are advised to read the attached Microsoft Anniversary Promotion
official letter for your winning claims.

Cindy Rose,
Microsoft UK CEO & Area Vice President.

Anti-fraud resources: