419 scam: "MRS. RITA PETTER"<root@hostmastersisp.com> DEAR WINNER,

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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:
- "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million united states 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)
- ",000,000" (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)
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.
- manageroffice40@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "MRS. RITA PETTER" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrs.ritapetter@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 01:35:24 +0200
Subject: DEAR WINNER,

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: 475061725/07

BATCH NO: 705649092/188

WINNING NO: GB8701/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 24TH OF Nov 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 $ 1,000,000 (USD ONE MILLION UNITED STATES

DOLLARS) PAYABLE IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE REF NO: ILP/HW 475061725/07 THIS

IS FROM TOTAL PRIZE MONEY OF $ 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-475061725/07 AND WILL BE READY FOR TRANSFER AS SOON AS YOU CONTACT

YOUR CLAIM AGENT DR JAMES RYAN . 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/XX07 TO YOUR

CLAIMING AGENT. THIS IS TO PREVENT SCAM.

CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT OFFICER IN UNITED KINGDOM.

NAME: DR. JAMES RYAN.

EMAIL: manageroffice40@yahoo.com.hk

NOTE: IN ORDER TO AVOID MISTAKES, PLEASE REMEMBER TO QUOTE YOUR REFERENCE

AND BATCH NUMBERS AND YOUR SECURITY CODE OF MSW/MAY/XX07 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. JAMES RYAN 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. RITA PETTER

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam