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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:
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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• 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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "to your nominated bank account" (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)
  • ",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)
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
• 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!
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • jjrays@yahoo.com.au (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: microsoft windows <mmwd04@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 30 May 2007 19:56:44 -0600
Subject: MICROSOFT WINNING NOTIFICATION.



MICROSOFT WINNING NOTIFICATION.We happily announce to you the draw of the Euro-Afro Asian Sweepstake:We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today of winners of the MICROSOFT FREE LOTTERY EMAIL PROMOTIONS WINNING PROGRAM held on Friday, 24th of April 2007. Your company or your personal e-mail address, is attached to ticket number 7564-84UK/07, with serial number 3509-RC-07 drew the lucky numbers 46-54-21-93-67, and consequently won the lottery in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of £500,000.00 in Cash credited to file REF: UKFR/72-QC-320972. This is from total prize money Of £5,000,000.00 shared among the Ten (10) international winners in this category. To claim your winning prize, you must first contact the claims department. A copy of this mail has also been sent to our claims department; endeavour to contact this department quoting your file reference. MICROSOFT LOTTERY UNITED KINGDOM PROMOTIONS Email:jjrays@yahoo.com.au Barrister Jenkins RayThis promotion takes place annually and it is sponsored by Sultan of Brunei, Bill Gates of Microsoft and his associates to encourage the use of internet and computers world wide. NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to Quote your reference and batch numbers in all correspondences with this office. Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform us as soon as possible. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning informations confidential till your claims is processed and your winnings delivered to your nominated Bank account through an approved delivering officer appointed specially for this program To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, you are to contact Barrister Jenkins Ray with the followings details below: VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM 1.FULL NAMES: 2.ADDRESS: 3.TELEPHONE NUMBER:4.REFERENCE AND BATCH NUMBER:5.HOW DO YOU FEEL BEEN A WINNER:6.AMOUNT WON: Make sure you Quote your Ticket number in correspondences with us to our designated agent.Congratulations, once more from all members and staffs of this program.Thank you for being part of this promotional program. Our special thanks and gratitude to Sultan of Brunei, Bill Gates of microsoft and all his associates. Please do not reply to this email, contact our fiduciary agent on recieval of this mail,email:jjrays@yahoo.com.au Congratulations again from all our staff for being part of our promotions program. Sincerely, ANDRIAN STOCKMICROSOFT LOTTERY UNITED KINGDOM PROMOTIONS MANAGER. Copyright (c) 2007 Millions Inc.

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Change is good. See what’s different about Windows Live Hotmail.
www.windowslive-hotmail.com/learnmore/default.html?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGLM_HMWL_reten_changegood_0507

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam