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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "ms-word lotto" (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)
  • "foreign service manager" (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)
  • "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)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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.
  • kateandrews01@excite.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: ALEXANDERIA REYES <areyes2072@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <kateandrews01@excite.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:35:09 -0400
Subject: ONLINE MICROSOFT AWARD NOTIFICATION







MOTTO: FIGHTING POVERTY AROUND THE WORLD


FROM THE DESK OF
E-MAIL
PROMOTIONS MANAGER
INTERNATIONAL
PROMOTIONS/PRIZE
AWARD DEPARTMENT,
MICROSOFT CORPORATION WORLD
LOTTERY
UNITED KINGDOM.


Reference
No:MSW-L/327015002/07
BATCH NO:
2007 APRIL #414
WINNER NO:
17

ELECTRONIC MAIL
AWARD WINNING
NOTIFICATION
AWARD
PRESENTATION CENTER: UNITED
KINGDOM

Dear
Winner,

Microsoft Corporation Management
Worldwide are pleased to inform you today
12th OCTOBER, 2007 that you are a
winner of our annual MS-WORD LOTTO LOTTERY conducted for this present year MEGA
JACKPOT LOTTO WINNING PROGRAM held on the 7th of SEPTEMBER,
2007.

Your email address was
attached to ticket number 214-056-278 with serial number
s/n-01025 and drew the lucky numbers 724-595-62-07-45 and consequently won in
the 3rd category.

As a result of this ,
you have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of US$1,000,000:00 (One
million united states dollars) payable in cash credited to file Reference
No:MSW-L/327015002/07 . This is from total prize money of US$50,000,000 (Fifty
million united states dollars) shared among Fifty lucky international winners in
this category.

All participants were
selected through our Microsoft computer ballot system drawn from a collation of
frequent internet users all over the world from America, Europe, Middle East,
Africa, Asia and Australia, as part of International Email Promotions Program,
which is conducted annually to encourage the use of internet and computers
worldwide.

Your fund (Cashier's
cheque) has been insured with your Reference No: MSW-L/327015002/07 and will be
ready for delivery but in order for your cheque to be issued and insured in your
name and for you to begin your claim you are urgently required to provide the
following information through email to

MRS KATE
ANDREWS,
Foreign Service
Manager,
London United
Kingdom,
{kateandrews01@excite.com}

1) Your full
names

2)Your full home /
office address
3)Nationality
4)Direct
Land/Mobilephone/fax numbers
5) Occupation / Age
6) Sex
7) Next of
kin
8) Amount won
9) Lottery date

Please note that above
detailed information will be absolutely neccessary for the processing of your
payment cheques,drafts or wire transfers.

Also this winning is
valid for THREE WEEKS and failure to issue claims after this period will
automatically void your payment.

Remember to quote
your ticket number, serial number and lucky number in your future correspondence
and most importantly as part of our security protocol you are to quote this
security code MSW/JUN/SS07 to the Foreign Service Manager, this is
to prevent scam.


Congratulations once
again from the entire management and staff of Microsoft Corporation to all our
lucky winners this year and thank you for being part of this Promotional lottery
Program. Our special thanks and gratitude goes to Bill Gates of Microsoft and
all his associates for alleviating poverty around the world through this
promotion.

SINCERELY,



Mrs.Alexanderia
Reyes

(PROMOTIONS
MANAGER).

LOTTERY
SPONSORS : CHIEF
SPONSORS;
MICROSOFT
CORPORATION UK, MICROSOFT CORPORATION AFRICA,
MICROSOFT
CORPORATION USA, MICROSOFT CORPORATION ASIA .


_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam