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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: "Microsoft" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <valitionofficer@163.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 01:02:08 +0100
Subject: Dear Winner

Microsoft Corporations:
Customer Service
Manchester Business Park
3000 Aviator Way
Manchester.
United Kingdom.
FILE REF: HL/5564/06/07/MICS
BATCH: MC11/834/5PDH /EU
Dear Winner,
It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your success in the following official publication of results of the E-mail electronic online Sweepstakes organized by Microsoft, in conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of software products, (F.P.S.) held this November 2014 in London UK.
Where in your email address emerged as one of the online Winning emails in the 1st category and therefore attracted a cash award of 950.000.00 (Nine hundred and Fifty Thousand pounds sterling) Our winners are arranged into four categories with different winning prizes accordingly in each category. They are arranged in this format below:
These are your identification numbers:MCS-26799/097
CATEGORY NO.OF WINNERS WINNING PRIZES
1st. 1 :950,000.00 pounds each
2nd. 8 :550.000.00 pounds each
3rd. 13 :250,000.00 pounds each
4th. 27 :70,000.00 pounds each
We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to contact the processing office immediately upon receipt of this message for more information concerning the verification, processing and eventual payment of the above prize to you.
It is important to note that your award information was released with the following particulars attached to it.
(1) Award numbers: NL 56/776
(2) Email ticket numbers: EAASL-130877
(3) Batch numbers: MC11/834/8PDH /EU
(4) The file reference numbers: HL/5574/41/07/MICS
(5)Serial Numbers: McST/006/NL46560
1. Full names:
2. Residential address:
3. Phone number:
4. Fax number:
5. Occupation:
6. Sex:
7. Age:
8. Nationality:
9. Present Country:
10.Next of kin name/address:
To file for your claim, Please contact your Validating Officer for VALIDATION of your winning within Twenty-nine working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are not validated within Twenty-nine working days of winning notification are termed void and invalid. You are required to mention the above particulars of your award in every correspondence to enable the Agent validate your winning.
CONTACT:
******************************************************
FOREIGN TRANSFER MANAGER
MR. LARRY MOORE.
MICROSOFT SECURITY DEPARTMENT (UK).
Direct E-MAIL: valitionofficer@163.com
mrlarry.moore@yandex.com
******************************************************
The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Awards is sponsored by our CEO/Chairman, Bill Gates and a consortium of software promotion companies. The Intel Group, Toshiba, Dell Computers and other International Companies. The Microsoft internet E-mail draw is held periodically and is organized to encourage the use of the Internet and promote computer literacy worldwide.
Once again on behalf of all our staff, We Say a Big Congratulation!!!
Sincerely,
Mr. Larry Moore.

Anti-fraud resources: