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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "million united states dollars" (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)
• 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 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.
  • mr_brownsmith2010@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: win log <brown_smith207@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <mr_brownsmith2010@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:21:40 +0200
Subject: INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT CONGRATULATIONS!















FROM THE DESK OF THE MICROSOFT
COORDINATOR {MICROSOFT GLOBAL E-MAIL LOTTERY}INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDSFILE REF:HL/5564/40/07/MICS
BATCH: MC11/834/5PDH /EU



OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION:
DEAR WINNER:

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your success in the following official publication of results of the E-mail electronic online Sweepstakes organized by Microsoft,in conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of software products,(F.P.S.)held on the 30th of August 2007,in Amsterdam The Netherlands.

Wherein your electronic email address emerged as one of the online
winning emails in the 1st category and therefore attracted a cash award of USD$1,000,000.00 (One Million United States Dollars only) which your file falls in our South African Claim office in Johannesburg

Our winners are arranged into four categories with different winning prizes accordingly in each category. They are arranged in this format below:

CATEGORY NO.OF WINNERS WINNING PRIZES
1st. 2 €1,000,000.00 euros each
2nd. 8 €800,000.00 euros each
3rd. 13 €470,000.00 euros each
4th. 27 €170,000.00 euros each


We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to contact the processing office immediately upon receipt of this message for more information concerning the verification, processing and eventual payment of the above prize to you.

It is important to note that your award information was released with the following particulars attached to it.
(1) Award numbers: NL 56/7765(2) Email ticket numbers: NL553/26/96(3) Batch numbers: MC11/834/5PDH /EU(4) The file reference numbers: HL/5564/40/07/MICS
{5} Serial Numbers:McST/006/NL4657

For verification purpose be sure to include:
(1) Your mailing address.(2) Your Tel/Fax numbers.
(3) Your Nationality/Country.
{4}Your Full Names


To file for your claim,Please contact your Validating Officer for VALIDATION of your winning within Twenty-nine working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are not validated within Twenty-nine working days of winning notification are termed void and invalid. You are required to mention the above particularsof your award in every correspondence to enable the Agentin South Africa validate your winning
CONTACT:*******************************************************************FOREIGN TRANSFER MANAGERNAME MR.Brown SMITH
MICROSOFT SECURITY DEPARTMENT(RSA)
Tell;+27846921225E-mail;mr_brownsmith2010@yahoo.com
********************************************************************The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Awards is sponsored by ourCEO/Chairman, Bill Gates: and a consortium of software promotion companies. The Intel Group, Toshiba, Dell Computers and other International Companies. The Microsoft internet E-mail draw is held periodically and is organized to encourage the use of the Internet and promote computer literacy worldwide.

Once again on behalf of all our staff,

CONGRATULATIONS!

Yours faithfully,

Mr.Brown Smith MICROSOFT E-MAIL LOTTERY PROMOTION COORDINATOR.



Copyright © 1994-2007 The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Awards Promotion Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of Service -Guideline.




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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam