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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "winners alert" <electronicwinnersalert@sympatico.ca>
Reply-To: lottery_brian_hunt@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2006 10:10:25 +0000
Subject: ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION MARCH 2006

         
 
 
 THE DESK OF THE E-MAIL PROMOTIONS MANAGER,     
INTERNATIONAL
PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
MICROSOFT WORLD LOTTERY, UK
3b Olympic
Way, Sefton Business Park,
Aintree, Liverpool, L30 1RD
REF NO: MSW-
L/200-26937
BATCH: 2005MJL-01

                    ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION
 
                                                ATTENTION:
       
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today of winners of the MICROSOFT WORD E-MAIL MEGAJACKPOT LOTTERY POGRAMS held on  MARCH 2006.Your Company or your personal e-mail address is attached to winning number 20-01-2005-02MSW, with serial number S/N-00168 drew the lucky numbers 887-13-865-37-10-83, and consequently won in the first lottery category.You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of GBP 7,000,000.00 POUNDS in cash credited to file REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937 This is from total prize money of GBP 3,704,500  POUNDS, shared among the Twenty  international winners in this category.
       All participants were selected through our Microsoft computer ballot system drawn form 21,000 names, 3,000 names from each continent, as part of International "E-MAIL" Promotions Program, which is conducted once in every four years for our prominent MS WORD user all over the world,and for the continues use of E-mail. We are sorry to let you know that our site is still under construction, as we are updating our site and our windows 2006.
      Your fund has been deposited in an escrow account with our affiliate Bank
here in UK, and insured with your REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937 and your E-mail address,
Please note that, you are to contact us via email as we are promoting the use of E-mail, You have the right to call the bank, as we will provide you with the necessary details on how to claim your Prize.
           You are to keep your ref. number and batch number from the public, until you have been processed and your money remitted to your personal account.We hope with your prize, you will be happy to promote the use of E-mail and the use of MS WORD.
         To claim your winning prize, you must first contact the claims department by email for processing and remittance of your prize money to you.Your assigned claims officer contact email is:
Name: MR DANIEL COOKER
EMAIL:
danielcooker@excite.com
Tel; +447031911927
He is to help you in claiming your due prize. Remember, all prize money must
be claimed not later than the 30Th of MARCH, 2006. All funds not claimed on
or before the fixed date will be penalized accordingly.
NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please
remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in all correspondences with your
claims officer.Any winner below the age of 18years is automatically disqualified.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Theresa Barnes.
For MS WORD LOTTO UK;
NOTE: Do not reply this mail. You are to contact your claims officer
directly immediately with the following details For claims
Verification.
FULL LEGAL NAMES:
COMPLETE MAILING ADDRESS:
COUNTRY OF
RESIDENCE:
AGE:
SEX:
OCCUPATION:
ANUAL INCOME:
TEL:
FAX:
                                                 SPONSORS
MICROSOFT CO-OPERATIONS UK, MICROSOFT CO-OPERATIONS ASIA, MICROSOFT CO-OPERATIONS USA, Lloyds BANK UK, CITIPAKCOURIR AND PORTLANDCOURIER.   
 
           
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