419 scam: "Microsoft Inc."<info@microsoft.com> 5Q-31T

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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:
- "million 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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Microsoft Inc." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <departamentoclaims2011@w.cn>
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2011 07:48:06 +0530
Subject: 5Q-31T

Dear Internet User !
We are glad to inform you that Microsoft company has awarded the sum of
One Million Dollars ($1000,000) to your email with reference
number 5Q-31T for being a very frequent web user.

Note: All participants under 18 are automatically disqualified.
Participants in this program was selected randomly through Microsoft
system drawn from over 50,000 Companies and 20,000,000 individual names,
email addresses from all web sites worldwide database.The Microsoft
Organization Inc promotional program has been insured and it is been
sponsored by eminent personalities,United Nation,Arab League,European
Union,Echina site and other corporate organizations.

In your best interest and also to avoid mix up of numbers and names of
any kind, we request that you keep the entire details of your award
strictly from public notice.You are required to send your full contact
details for further processing.

(1) Full Names:
(2) Address:
(3) Country of Origin:
(4) Date of Birth:
(5) Sex:
(6) Marital Status:
(7) Telephone:
(8) Occupation:
(9) Scanned copy of your valid identification:

Congratulations.
All rights reserved.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam