419 scam: "Google Incorporation®"<noreply@googleuk.com> 2017 Google

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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:
- "claims office" (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.
- portrugpat@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Google Incorporation®" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <portrugpat@outlook.com>
Date: Tue, 23 May 2017 19:54:40 -0700
Subject: 2017 Google

Google Incoporation
Belgrave House
76 Buckingham Palace Road
London SW1W 9TQ, United Kingdom.
Winning No: GUK/877/798/2017
Ticket No: GUK/699/33/2017

GOOGLE ANNUAL PROMOTION

We wish to congratulate you on this note, for being part of our selected winners in our just concluded internal
promotion draw this year 2017, this promotion was set-up to encourage the active users of the Google search
engine and the Google ancillary services.

Hence we do believe with your winning prize, you will continue to be an active patronage to the Google search
engine and services. Google is now the biggest search engine worldwide and in an effort to make sure that it
remains the most widely used search engine, we ran an online e-mail beta draw which your email address won Nine
Hundred and Fifty Thousand Great British Pounds Sterling (?950,000.00). We wish to formally announce to you
that you have successfully passed the requirements, statutory obligations, verifications, validations and satisfactory
report Test conducted for all online winners.

A winning check will be issued in your name by Google Promotion Award; for the sum of Nine Hundred and Fifty
Thousand Great British Pounds Sterling (?950,000.00) and also a certificate of prize claims will be sent alongside
your winning check cashable at any bank.

You are advised to contact the assigned Google Program Administrator/Coordinator with the following details to
avoid unnecessary delay and complications:

VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM
(1) Your Contact Address/Private Email Address
(2) Your Tel/Fax Numbers
(3) Your Nationality/Country
(4) Your Full Name
(5) Occupation/Company
(6) Age/Gender
(7) Ever Won An Online Lottery?
(8) Comments About Google

Ruth Porat - Google Senior Fellow (Program Administrator/Coordinator)
Email: portrugpat@gmail.com

Note: Kindly fill and send your funds claims form to the claims officer via email: portrugpat@gmail.com

Google values your right to privacy! Your information is 100% secured and will be used exclusively for the purpose
of this award only.
The Google Promotion Award Team has discovered a huge number of double claims due to winners informing close
friends relatives and third parties about their winning and also sharing their pin numbers. As a result of this, these
friends try to claim the lottery on behalf of the real winners. The Google Promotion Award Team has reached a
decision from its headquarters that any double claim discovered by the Lottery Board will result to the cancelling of
that particular winning, leading to a loss for both the double claimer and the real winner, as it is taken that the real
winner was the informer to the double claimer about the lottery. So you are hereby strongly advised once more to
keep your winnings strictly confidential until you claim your prize.

Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of the Google interactive Lotteries Board Commission.

Yours faithfully,
Sundar Pichai
Chief Executive Officer of Google

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam