419 scam: "GOOGLE" <googleprize@google.com> YOU HAVE WON A LOTTERY PRIZE

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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:
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
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.
- pottergeoffrey2@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "GOOGLE" <googleprize@google.com>
Reply-To: pottergeoffrey2@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2017 03:19:20 -0800
Subject: YOU HAVE WON A LOTTERY PRIZE

Dear Lucky Winner.

We wish to congratulate you on this note, for being one of our lucky winners selected this year. This promotion was set-up to encourage the active use of the Google search engine and the Google ancillary services. Hence we do believe with your winning prize, you will continue to be active and patronage to this company. Google is now the world leading search engine worldwide and in an effort to make sure that it remains the most widely used search engine, an online e-mail balloting was carried out on the 1st of January 2014, without your knowledge and was officially released recently.

We wish to formally announce to you that your email address was attached to a lump sum of $800,000.00 {Eight Hundred Thousand U.S Dolars only.

A winning Cheque will be issued in your name by the Google Promotion Award Team, and also a certificate of prize claims will be sent alongside your winning Cheque.

Your Award Winning Details.
Code Number: GAE/3554749405GK
Ticket No: GAE/1008272745GK
Winning Number: GAE/99334353734GK

Information's required from you are part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.to claim your won prize, please contact the Google Award claims Dubai UAE Manager (Potter Geoffrey) neatly filling the payment release details below.

PAYMENT RELEASE DETAILS.

*First Name
*Last Name
*Residential Address
*Telephone/ Mobile
*Nationality/Country
*Age
*Sex
*Occupation/Position
*Amount Won
*Alternate Email
*Have you ever been an Online Winner?

You are advised to contact your Foreign Claims Manager with his private email details below to avoid unnecessary delay and complications:
**************

GOOGLE AWARD CLAIMS MANAGER.
Potter Geoffrey
Google Security Department (United Arab Emirates)
E-mail: pottergeoffrey2@gmail.com

**************

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning informations confidential till your claims have been processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.

Note: You can fill your payment release form by printing and manually filling or you can fill directly on mail, or provide the details on Microsoft Word

Please do not reply if you are NOT the owner of this email address. Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of Google Board Commission.

Yours Sincerely,
Michael Smith,

Regional Coordinator,
Google United Kingdom.
Google Corporation.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam