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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:

Fraud email example:

From: Ikram Tabassum <ikramtabassum@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2010 10:11:29 -0800 (PST)
Subject: lottery



FROM: THE DESK OF THE E-MAIL PROMOTIONS MANAGER INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT, MICROSOFT CORPORATION WORLD LOTTERY UNITED KINGDOM.61-70 SOUTHAMPTON ROW BLOOMSBURY LONDON UNITED KINGDOM WC1B 4AR.
REFERENCE NO: 875061725/07
BATCH NO: 505649092/188
WINNING NO: PB8701/LPRC
WINNER: NO17
 
ELECTRONIC EMAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION AWARD PRESENTATION CENTER: UNITED KINGDOM
 
DEAR WINNER,
 
MICROSOFT CO-OPERATION MANAGEMENT WORLDWIDE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT YOU ARE A WINNER OF OUR ANNUAL MS-WORLD LOTTERY (MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO PROGRAMME) CONDUCTED ON: 25 TH OF MAY 2010
 
YOUR PERSONAL E-MAIL ADDRESS OR COMPANY EMAIL WAS ATTACHED TO THIS YEAR’S MSWLL. WITH SERIAL NUMBER 7741137002 DREW THE LUCKY NUMBERS 5-13-33-37-42, AND CONSEQUENTLY WON IN THE FIRST LOTTERY CATEGORY. YOU HAVE THEREFORE BEEN APPROVED FOR LUMP SUMS OF USD 1,000,000 (USD ONE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) PAYABLE IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE REF NO: ILP/HW 875061725/10 THIS IS FROM TOTAL PRIZE MONEY OF USD 25,000,000 USD, SHARED AMONG THE TWENTY-FIVE (25) LUCKY INTERNATIONAL WINNERS IN FIRST AND SECOND CATEGORY.
 
ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE SELECTED FROM WORLDWIDE A COMPUTER BALLOTING SYSTEM THROUGH OUR MICROSOFT COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM DRAWN FROM 21,000 NAMES, 3,000 NAMES FROM EACH CONTINENT (CANADA, ASIA, AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATE, EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA AND OCEANIA, AS PART OF INTERNATIONAL "E-MAIL" PROMOTIONS PROGRAMME, WHICH IS CONDUCTED ANNUALLY FOR OUR PROMINENT MS -WORD USERS ALL OVER THE WORLD TO ENCOURAGE THE USE OF INTERNET AND COMPUTERS WORLDWIDE. 
 
YOUR FUND (CERTIFIED CHEQUE) HAS BEEN INSURED WITH YOUR REF NO: ILP/HW-475061725/10 AND WILL BE READY FOR TRANSFER AS SOON AS YOU CONTACT YOUR CLAIM AGENT DR SMITH WALKER . YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE USED IN ALL CORRESPONDENCE WITH YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER, PLEASE NOTE THAT, YOU ARE TO CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER VIA EMAIL OR TELEPHONE AS WE ARE PROMOTING THE USE OF E-MAIL. ALSO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CALL HIM TO CONFIRM YOUR WINNINGS AND GOVERNMENT TAX PAYMENT THAT IS ALL, AS HE WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE NECESSARY DETAILS ON HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE. AS PART OF OUR SECURITY PROTOCOL YOU ARE TO QUOTE THIS SECURITY CODE MSW/MAY/XX10 TO YOUR CLAIMING AGENT. THIS IS TO PREVENT SCAM.
  
CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT OFFICER IN UNITED KINGDOM.
NAME:  Dr. SMITH WALKER
EMAIL: smithwalker.fiduciaryagent0002@gmail.com
TELEPHONE: +447024046871
NOTE: IN ORDER TO AVOID MISTAKES, PLEASE REMEMBER TO QUOTE YOUR REFERENCE AND BATCH NUMBERS AND YOUR SECURITY CODE OF MSW/MAY/XX10 IN ALL CORRESPONDENCES WITH YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER. DO NOT REPLY ANY OTHER MAILS LIKE THIS ON NET, AS THEY ARE A LOT OF SCAM ARTIST OUT THERE PRETENDING TO BE US.YOU MAY SEE MAILS LIKE THIS DO NOT REPLY. DO CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER, DR. SMITH WALKER IN UNITED KINGDOM.  YOU WILL BE ASKED TO PROVIDE SOME DETAILS AND AS WELL LET YOU KNOW THE COUNTRIES OF THE PAYING CENTRES AND ALSO TO ENABLE THE OFFICE PROCEED WITH YOUR WINNING CERTIFICATE AND FILE KEEPING.
 
CONGRATULATIONS, ONCE MORE FROM THE ENTIRE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF OF MICROSOFT CO-OPERATION TO ALL OUR LUCKY WINNERS. THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF THIS PROMOTIONAL LOTTERY PROGRAM. OUR SPECIAL THANKS AND GRATITUDE TO ALL THE ASSOCIATES FOR ALLEVIATING POVERTY ROUND THE WORLD.
 
SINCERELY.
MRS BETH MOOD
 
                                 
MRS. TAKIYYAH A'ISHAH
(CO-COORDINTOR).    
 
                                  LOTTERY SPONSORS: CHIEF SPONSORS;
MICROSOFT CORPORATION UK,             MICROSOFT CORPORATION AFRICA,
MICROSOFT CORPORATION USA,           MICROSOFT CORPORATION ASIA
 
Past winners
 
page 2
 
 
ATTENTION: DEAR WINNER,
 
 
REF: SETTLEMENT CENTRE:
With profound gratitude we congratulate you and it is my pleasure to inform you that we have two settlement centers where you will contact for settlement of your winning prize of US$1000,000,00 One Million Dollars.
They are namely:
1.  Europe Affiliate Office (London).
2. African Regional Settlement Center (Nigeria).
The payment centers above are made for you to choose. If you choose the Europe Affiliate Office, You would pay all the cost of your travel, logistics and hotel accommodation. Their disparity ways of services in London would require you to travel to the centre at your own expense and also spend about 1 week in a hotel reservation of your choice. The reason is that you would have to be identified before the cheque or transfer is issued.
 
The payment centre in African Regional Settlement Center (Nigeria) will require your contact information and your identification so the fund would not be transferred to a wrong person.
Owing to the fact that the payment center is just a year and four months old, you do not need to travel down to Africa; all you need to do is to give them your banking account information where you want the fund to be transferred to. You have to choose from this settlement centers where you will like to receive your payment, and then I shall forward your information to the payment center of your choice for immediate initiation of your winning fund transfer. In receive of your reply with the required information we shall forward your certificate of winning to you while the original copy would be sent to your chosen payment center.
For security reason all correspondence for your settlement will carry security code Number, MSW/MAY/XX10 with out the code it should be ignored this is to avoid taken unwarranted advantage of this programme.
Note that there exists a periodic condition on all claims process; therefore you have limited time to claim your winnings. Failure to claim your winnings within the stipulated time frame will lead to the forfeiture of your winnings after which your winnings remitted back to the Microsoft Headquarters and will then be added to next winning draws. Also kindly be aware that the Microsoft Lottery winning prizes are regulated by the Financial Services Authority and as a result, you are advice to follow the Lottery Claims Terms and Conditions to ensure the remittance of your prize to you within the stipulated time of the claiming of winnings.
Please always call for more information, all you have to do is to be calling; so that I will tell you more and how you can received your wining prize, while we are asking you to scan your valid Driver license or International Passport to this office so that your prize will not be giving out to other body.
For more enquiries and confirmation please call the microsoft lottery headquarters in the USA Tel:0012062596536
Fill the form that follows accordingly after you have chosen a Payment Center of your choice.
Congratulation once again,
Best Regard.
Dr. Smith Walker
Claims Agent.
TEL +447024046871
EMAIL: smithwalker.fiduciaryagent0002@gmail.com
NAME.......................................................................................................
ADDRESS: ……………………………………………………………………
NATIONALITY: ........................................................................................
SEX: ……………………………………………………………………………
AGE: ........................................................................................................
PHONE.....................................................................................................
FAX: ..........................................................................................................

OCCUPATION: ..........................................................................................

COMPANY: ...............................................................................................

SECURITY CODE: ....................................................................................
WINNING NO: ............................................................................................
PAYMENT CENTER: …………………………………………………………..
                                                          


 
 
 
 
 




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