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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!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "microsoft lottery" (no such lottery exists)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims director" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
• 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: MICROSOFT MANAGEMENT <microsoftmanagement2@yahoo.dk>
Reply-To: microsoftmanagement@yahoo.dk
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:41:35 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Reminder from Mr Tony Toka


MS WORD PROMOTIONS
(Thanks for contributing to our Financial Success)

FROM: THE DESK OF THE CLAIMS DIRECTOR,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS / PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937
BATCH: 2005MJL-01.
Registered Lottery No 220949


Dear Winner,

How are you doing today, this is in regard to know how far you have gone with the courier company, keep me updated in every step you take, because the duty as the claims officer is to make sure you receive your winnings prize as that is our primary goal, so please do keep this office updated on every dealings you have with the courier company, Note that we can only schedule the successful and of year lotter programm party when every winners has finally received his/her winning prize, so please endeavour to finalise every necessary transaction that is involve in the claims of your winnings as soon as possible.
Yours Sincerely,
MR TONY TOKA
CLAIMS DIRECTOR
Microsoft Lottery Promotions

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam