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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Microsoft" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <MSFTinformationoffice@usa.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2019 23:51:48 -0700
Subject: Congratulations

Congratulations to the winner,

We are pleased to inform you that your E-MAIL ADDRESS has won the sum of $5,000,000.00 USD (Five Million United States Dollars) in the on-going Microsoft 2019 Electronic Diversity Online Award Promo. Your Ticket number is MSFT/FBUS/LP-54399.

All winners were selected through a computer random integrated system drawn in 250 million E-mail addresses via Facebook profiles and regular email users of Gmail, Msn, Yahoo, Aol, Hotmail and other email providers for the year 2019 to say a very "BIG THANK YOU" to all their users for making their platforms as number one means of communication. This is part of our social responsibility to the world in the aspect that impacts people’s lifestyle worldwide.

All winners do not have to purchase any ticket to participate in this lottery program. You are advised to send your details to the Claim Department through the following information same accompany with a photocopy of your government issued ID (i.e) International Passport data-page, Driver's License, etc. as a means of identification and to process your winning.

Contact Person: Derrick McCourt
Designated: General Manager, Public/Online Sector.
E-mail: MSFTinformationoffice@usa.com
Cell/WhatsApp: +1 (609) 478-0285

Note: Do not doubt or disregard this letter as we are ready to give you attention until you receive your entitled Prize Award. Microsoft Corporation, Attention: Community Support, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052 USA

Yours in service,

Ms. Anna Wolf
Information Department
Microsoft® Corporation, USA

Anti-fraud resources: