419 scam: "Microsoft International Sweepstakes"<winnernotice@microsoftcorp.org> Urgent notice

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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:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
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.
- frankytrodwell@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Microsoft International Sweepstakes" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <josebaker411@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 06:43:34 -0800
Subject: Urgent notice

The Microsoft Windows Lottery
RE: INTERNATIONAL WEB-WIDE WINNING NOTICE

We are pleased to inform you of the draw 1245 of the Microsoft Windows Lottery held on 1st of March,2017.
Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from a pool of over 25,000 email addresses drawn from Europe, America, Asia, Australia,New Zealand, Middle East as part of our international promotions conducted annually to encourage overseas entries.

The result of our computer draw selected your email address attached to e-ticket number 568466420KNH with serial number 5357/HJ,which subsequently won you the lottery in 2nd category Match 5 bonus. You have therefore been approved to claim a total of Nine hundred and fifty thousand United States dollars $950,000.

Your prize award will be issued in your name. To begin your claims you are advised to contact our licensed and accredited claim agent for overseas lottery winners.
Please be informed that claims not processed with 30 days from the date of this notice will be forfeited to the pool.

Our agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.

You can contact via email with the particulars presented below citing the batch and reference numbers in this letter.

Contact Person:Franklin Trodwell
Email:frankytrodwell@gmail.com

Our winners are assured of the utmost standards of confidentiality, and press anonymity until the end of the claim process, and beyond if so desired. Be also advised to maintain strictest level of confidentiality until your claim is completed to avoid fraudulent claim. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claims and unwarranted abuse of this program.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam