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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:

• 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")
  • "million us 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)
  • ",500,000" (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)
  • "00,000.00" (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.
  • fredcoleman88@gmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: Mrs. Patricia Lawrence<patricia_law08@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:34:58 -1200
Subject: ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION

FROM: THE DESK OF THE E-MAIL PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
MICROSOFT WORD LOTTERY,UK
61-70 Southampton Row, Bloomsbury,
LONDON, United Kingdom, WC1B 4AR
DIRECTOR:MR. KENT ANDERSON.




REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937
BATCH: 2005MJL-01

ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION

FINAL NOTIFICATIONS!!!!!

!!!CONGRATULATIONS!! !!TO!! !!YOU!!!!!!

We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today of winners of the MSWMEGA JACKPOT LOTTO WINNINGS PROGRAMS held
on 8th November 2007.

Your company or your personal e-mail address, is attached to winning number20-12DEC-2004-02MSW, with serial number
S/N-00168 drew the lucky numbers887-13-865-37-10-83, and consequently won in the first lottery category.

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of GBP5,500,000.00POUNDS in cash which is approximately $10.4
MILLION US DOLLARS (this amount is excluding credited to file REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937.

This is from total prize money of GBP 27,500,000.00POUNDS, shared among the Twenty (5)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 ofInternational "E-MAIL" Promotions Program, which is conducted annually 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.

Your fund has been deposited in an escrow account and insured with your REF NO:MSW-L/200-26937 and your E-mail address,
Please note that, you are to contact usvia email and not phone as we are promoting the use of E-mail, any communications
with this office should be by mail, You have the right to callthe 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 account.

This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and the act of scamming people of their ref number and
prizes. We hope with a part of your prize, you will participate in our year high stakes US$1.3 billion International
Lottery.

To claim your winning prize, you must first contact the claims department by email for processing and remittance of
your prize money to you.


The claims officer contact email is:

CLAIMS OFFICER :MR. FRED COLEMAN

E-m@il: fredcoleman88@gmail.com


** WINNERS must claim their winning prize before the 17TH OF MARCH, 2008. All funds not claimed on or before the fixed
date will be penalised accordingly.

THIS SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY THE BENEFICIARY OF THE STATED FUND, FOR VERIFICATION BEFORE TRANSFER.

BENEFICIARY FIRST NAME-------------
BENEFICIARY LAST NAME--------------
RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS----------------
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH------------
TEL. NUMBER------------------------
FAX NUMBER-------------------------
EMAIL ADDRESS----------------------
NEXT OF KIN NAME AND ADDRESS-------
AMOUNT WON-------------------------
BATCH NUMBER-----------------------
REFERENCE Nº-----------------------
OCCUPATION-------------------------
MARITAL STATUS----------------------

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. Do not reply any other mails like this on net as they are alot of scam
artist out there pretending to be us. You may see mails like this do not reply. Do contact your claims officer MR. FRED
COLEMAN, at once by email. You will be asked to provide some details to enable us proceed file keeping.

Congratulations!! Oncemore.

Yours Faithfully,
MRS.PATRICIA LAWRENCE.
LOTTERY CO-ORDINATOR/ANNOUNCER.

NOTE: YOU ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO KEEP ALL YOUR WINNING CONFIDENTIAL TILL CLAIM IS MADE TO AVOID WRONG CLAIMING.ANY
BREACH OF CONFIDENCIAL DISQULIFIES YOU FROMGETTING YOUR PRIZE.


NOTE2: Do not reply this mail. You are to contact your claims officer immediately.

SPONSORS:-
CHIEF SPONSOR;
MICROSOFT CO-OPERATIONS UK;MICROSOFT CO OPERATIONS ASIA; MICROSOFT CO-OPERATIONS USA ;AMTRAK COURIER EXPRESS;GLOBAL
COURIER EXPRESS.


© copyright 2008 by Microsoft Co-operations United Kingdom. All Rights Reserved.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam