419 scam: YAHOO & WINDOWS LIVE AWARDS FOR 2009 <windowslive@windows.com> Congratulations!! YAHOO & WINDOWS LIVE AWARDS FOR 2009

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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

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.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "online@yahoowindowsliveaward.org" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447031911993 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- +448704791443 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- +448709746757 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: YAHOO & WINDOWS LIVE AWARDS FOR 2009 <windowslive@windows.com>
Reply-To: online@yahoowindowsliveaward.org
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:32:15 -0400
Subject: Congratulations!! YAHOO & WINDOWS LIVE AWARDS FOR 2009

Yahoo & Window Live Awards Centre 124 Stockport Road, Longsight, Manchester M60 2DB - United Kingdom Tel: 44 703 191 1993 , Fax: +44 870 479 1443 CONGRATULATIONS!! YOUR ADDRESS HAS WON!! This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Great Britain Pounds (GBP 250,000) for the, FOR THE YAHOO & WINDOWS LIVE AWARDS FOR 2008 Prize promotion which is organized by YAHOO AWARDS & WINDOWS LIVE. YAHOO collects all the email addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail and few from other e-mail providers. Ten (10) people are selected yearly to benefit from this promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners. PAYMENT OF PRIZE / CLAIMS Winners shall be paid in accordance with their Settlement Centers. Yahoo Prize Award must be claimed not later than 30 days from date of Draw Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited and returned to its source as unclaimed. Stated below are your identification numbers: BATCH NUMBER: MFI/06/APA-43658 REFERENCE NUMBER: 2007234522 PIN: 1207 You are requested to contact our co-ordinator in Manchester and send your winning identification numbers to him: Award coordinator Name: Mr. Bratan Petko E-Mail: online@yahoowindowsliveaward.org Tel: +44-703-191-1993 Fax: +44-870-974-6757 You are advised to send the following information to our co-ordinator to facilitate the release of of your fund to you. 1. Full name.............................................. 2. Country................................................. 3. Contact Address................................ 4. Telephone Number............................ 5. fax Number.......................................... 5. Marital Status..................................... 6. Occupation.......................................... 7. Sex......................................................... 8. Date of Birth/Age ............................... 9. Identity card(carte identite)............. Congratulations!! once again. Yours in service, Mr. Bratan Petko (Awards coordinator) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WARNING! You must keep strict confidentiality of your Prize Award claims to yourself until your money is successfully handed over to you to avoid disqualification that may arise from double claims.Yahoo Awards Team shall not be held liable for any loss of funds arising from the above mentioned.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam