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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
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• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
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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.

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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• 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.
  • +447031898302 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +448704781932 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Microsoft Promotion Team" <info@msn-promotiondraws.net>
Reply-To: claim@billscottattorney.org
Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2008 09:33:56 +0000
Subject: Microsoft Winning Notification



MICROSOFT AWARD TEAM
Microsoft House
10 Great Pulteney Street,
London W1F 9NB.
Ref: BTD/968/05.
Batch: 409978E.


Dear Winner,

WINNING NOTIFICATION

The prestigious MICROSOFT COMPANY has set out and sucessfully organised a Sweepstakes marking the year 2007 Anniversary. We rolled out over GBP £5,000.000.00 (Five Million Great British Pounds) for our end of year Anniversary Draws. Participants for the draws were randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of web hosts which we enjoy their patronage.

The selection was made through a computer draw system attaching personal and Companies email addresses of various individuals and companies email addresses to Ticket Numbers. If you ignore this, you will regret it later. MICROSOFT is now the largest Internet Company and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft is running an e-mail beta test.

Your email address as indicated was drawn and attached to ticket number 008795727498 with serial numbers BTD/9080648302/06 and drew the lucky numbers 14-21-25-39-40-47(20) which subsequently won you GBP £1,000,000.00 (One Million Great British Pounds) as one of the 10 Jackpot Winners in this draw. You have therefore won the entire winning sum of GBP £1,000,000.00 (One Million Great British Pounds) The draws registered as Draw number one was conducted in Liverpool, London United Kingdom on the 1st of February 2008. These Draws are commemorative and as such special.

Please be informed by this winning notification,to file your claims,you are to make contact with your designated agent who shall by duty guide you through the process to facilitate the release of your prize money.Please Contact your claim and delivery agency in the contact information below:

CLAIM AND DELIVERY AGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION:
NAME OF FIRM: BILL SCOTT ATTORNEYS, INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRM.
Office Adress: 51 Gray's Inn Square London,WC1R 5JD.
Email: claim@billscottattorney.org
Office Telephone: +44-703-189-8302
Fax: +44-870-478-1932
Contact Person: Bill Scott.

You are advised to contact your fiduciary claim and delivery agent with the following details and provide him with the Information on the Verification Details Below to avoid unnecessary delays and complications:

VERIFICATION DETAILS:
1)Full name:
2)Address:
3)Ticket Numbers:
4)Batch Number:
5)Serial Number:
6)Lucky Numbers: (As Indicated in this winning Notification)
7)Phone numbers:
8)Amount won:
9)Sex:
10)Age:
11)Occupation:
12)Country:

Our special thanks and gratitude to Bill Gates and his associates.We wish you the best of luck.

Note: You have 9 days from the date of this publication to claim your prize money or you may forefeit your winnings.In compliance with the sponsoring bodies,you are to make a remittance of a part of your won fund,not lower than 10-percent, after receiving your allocation to any charity organisation of your choice.

Thank you for being part of our commemorative Anniversary Draws.

Mrs. Jane Wallace.


Microsoft Promotion Team
Vice President


Copyright © 2007-2009 Microsoft Award Team All Rights Reserved.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam