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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "payauthority@aol.co.uk" <payauthority@aol.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2014 01:35:46 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Confirm Your Winning Immediately


Confirm Your Winning Lottery

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise as we congratulate you over your success in the official publication of results in the e-MAIL electronic online Sweepstakes Lottery organized by Microsoft
Corporation in conjunction with the Microsoft Software Donations. Microsoft is proud to work with more than 50,000 nonprofits around the world every year to provide them with affordable access to the technology
they need to support their work in local communities, and to leverage technology to help them be more efficient, effective and innovative in doing their important work. Whether it is through our software products
donations, technology solutions for nonprofit problems, or Office 365 for Nonprofits, we strive to help nonprofits do more good in the U.S and all over the world.

Your e-MAIL ID as selected has won a cash donation of US$1,000,000.00 (One million United States Dollars) only. Quickly confirm the receipt of this award with your winning particulars attached to File Number: F1267-2014, Ref. Code: KP23/857/MCL4/CO and, Selected Serial Number: MICC/97846563459/14 for your verification and payment. To claim your award prize, please contact the authorized Payment Office in London - United Kingdom before the deadline stipulations;

Microsoft Software Donations Team:
Dr. Peter Adams (Head, operations)
E-MAIL; payauthority@aol.co.uk
Tel: 44 745 976 6474

Congratulations from the management of Microsoft Corporation and for more details on Microsoft Software Donations please view: http://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/en-us/nonprofits/

Sincerely,
Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO)

Anti-fraud resources: