419 scam: "Windows Live Award Team U.K" <bibliomonde@noos.fr> 2009 PRIZE WINNER (CONGRATULATIONS)

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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:

The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "yahoo lottery inc" (no such lottery exists)
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claims director" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "greater london" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "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. )
- "stevenromanoff@discuz.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.
- +447024069640 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Windows Live Award Team U.K" <bibliomonde@noos.fr>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 02:38:18 +0100 (CET)
Subject: 2009 PRIZE WINNER (CONGRATULATIONS)

Microsoft Award Team.
Bailey House, Har Road
Sutton, Greater London
SM1 4te United A Kingdom.
Batch: 12/25/0340

Dear Winner

YAHOO & MICROSOFT! WINNING NOTIFICATION.. XMAS PROMO

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of five hundred thousand pounds (£500,000) for the2009 End of year Lottery
promotion which is organized by YAHOO LOTTERY INC & WINDOWS LIVE.YAHOO & MICROSOFT WINDOWS, collects all the email addresses of people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo and Hotmail we only select five people every Month as our winners through electronic balloting System without the winner applying, we Congratulate you for being one of the people selected.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM

You are to contact your Claims Agent with immediate effect to facilitate the protocol of your winning prize before the expiry date of Claim; Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Centre. Prize must be claimed not later than 7 days from date of Draw Notification after the Draw date in which Prize has won. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited. These are your identification numbers:

Batch number....................12/25/0340
Ref number.......................Ref: MSN-L/200-26937
Winning number...................YM09788

To begin your claim please contact our licensed and accredited agent assigned to you

Mr. Steven Romanoff
(VERIFICATION DEPARTMENT MANAGER)
Email:stevenromanoff@discuz.org
Tel: +447024069640

You are therefore advised to send the following information to the claims agent to help facilitate the claims of your prize .Note that it is mandatory you use the email of the Accredited agent above to send your response so that your email will be attended to, if you click reply on this message you will not get the response of your Accredited agent, so you are expected to carefully use the email address of the claims director above to provide your requested information.

1. Full name............
2. Country..............
3. Contact Address........
4. Telephone Number........
5. Marital Status.........
6. Occupation.............
7. Company..............
8. Age...................

Your winning Prize would be approved for release and we will begin the process of remittance to you. You would also be required to select a mode of payment from the options stipulated below:

1: A certified cheque of five hundred thousand pounds (£500,000) shall be handed over to you (Personally) including the Security documents of your winning prize award at the payment center in London United Kingdom. Please note that you have less than 7 days from this day to make yourself available at the Disbursements Center to claim your winnings. Failure to comply will mean that you have forfeited your winnings and the funds will be reused in upcoming draws.

2: However if you cannot make it to the Disbursements Center within the stipulated time, there would be two other payment options open to you.

a. Online Bank Transfer of five hundred thousand pounds (£500,000) to your Nominated Bank Account in your home Country.
b. Courier Delivery of a Certified cheque of five hundred thousand pounds (£500,000) Payable to you from any Bank in the world would be sent to you via the services of a courier Company..
Please Note:
Msn Lottery Prize must be claimed not later than 7 days from date draw Notification after the Draw date in which Prize has won. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited.
Thank you for being part of our commemorative end of year Anniversary Draws. Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of the interactive Lotteries Board Commission:

Congratulations!! Once again.
Yours in service,
Mrs. Felicia Walker
(Operation Manager)
Yahoo Microsoft Promotion Award Team.
Yahoo Microsoft Winning Notification XMAS
The Yahoo! Lottery Christmas Millionaire Maker

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam