419 scam: "MICROSOFT EMAIL PROMOTION" <info.winners@microsoft.com> 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:

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.
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.
- mrivan.nickerson04@yahoo.com.hk (Yahoo, Hong Kong; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "MICROSOFT EMAIL PROMOTION" <info.winners@microsoft.com>
Reply-To: mrivannickerson4@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 22:57:30 -0200 (FNT)
Subject: Congratulations - You have won

Congratulations - You have won

The MICROSOFT EMAIL PROMO TEAM is glad to announce that
after a successful completion of the PROMO DRAWS held on the
19th May 2010,your e-mail address,attached to winning
numbers:(11) (80) (12)(96) (09) (43) won in the Tenth
lottery category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
£250,000,00 Pounds Sterling in cash credited to REF
NO:MICRO-L/2009-END10.

All participants were selected through our Microsoft computer
ballot system drawn from 167,000 Names,as part of our
International "E-MAIL" Promotion Program for our prominent
MS-WORD users all over the world and for the continuous use
of the internet. You are advised to contact the claims
processor with the details below via his e-mail address :

NAME: Ivan Nickerson
EMAIL: mrivan.nickerson04@yahoo.com.hk

PLEASE NOTE YOU ARE TO SEND THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO

CLAIM YOUR PRIZE:
1.Full Name:... 2.Address:... 3.Phone:... 4.Country:...

5.Sex/Gender:...

YOURS SINCERELY,
ANASTACIA SHEFFIELD.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam