419 scam: "MICROSOFT PROMOTIONAL PROGRAM" <bssdn328@att.net> 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.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "greater london" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
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.
- +2347039822275 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
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.
- rev-mrs-louisakay2011@hotmail.com (Hotmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "MICROSOFT PROMOTIONAL PROGRAM" <bssdn328@att.net>
Reply-To: <rev-mrs-louisakay2011@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2011 12:57:37 -0700
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS

Yahoo Email
Incoperation
Baley House, Har Road
Sutton, Greater London
SM1 4te
United Kingdom UK

Office Hours 9am - 5pm GTM London Time

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of $850,000 USD (Eight Hundred and Fifty
Thousand Dollars) for the 2011 Yahoo Email Seasonal promotion which is organized by YAHOO EMAIL INC,
WINDOWS LIVE & MICROSOFT PROMOTIONAL PROGRAM, this is done by collecting all the email addresses
of the people active online, among the millions that are active online, we only select five people as our winners
through our Yahoo Microsoft Ballot Selection System Unit.

We congratulate you for being one of the people selected on our Yahoo members registration file list and other
Domain Subscribers..

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM
You are to contact your Claims Agent on or before your date of Claim, Winners
Shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Center.

Yahoo members Email promotion Prize must be claimed not later than 5 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...YM 09102XN
Reff number...YM35447XN
Winning number...YM09788

These numbers fall within the our West Africa Regional Headquarter-Nigeria Center you are requested to contact our
West Africa Regional Office Nigeria Co-ordinator Rev. Mrs. Louisa Kay and send your winning identification numbers to him,

NAME: Rev. Mrs. Louisa Kay
E-Mail: rev-mrs-louisakay2011@hotmail.com
Office Line:+234-703-982-2275

You are therefore advise to send the following information to the West Africa Nigeria Co-ordinator to facilitate
them and process the transfer of your fund.

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

Best Regard
Mr. Greg Smith
Congratulations!! once again.
Yahoo! UK & Ireland

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam