419 scam: "Windows Inc." <windows.inc.do@gmail.com> Congratulations!

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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:
- ",000,000" (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)
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.
- mattequity@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Windows Inc." <windows.inc.do@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mattequity@hotmail.com
Date: Sat, 13 Jun 2020 08:10:36 -0700
Subject: Congratulations!

Ref: OS/34085-73058-0015/2
Batch: 293/34/3473

Congratulations our promo winner this is to inform you that your email
won an online ticket award of the total sum of Â£500,000 five hundred
thousand British pounds on it, this promotion for a product program
took place on the 13th of June 2020 in Dominican Republic. Your e-mail
address with id number 00329FD7C20C015A9 dropped to ticket number:
5368/20 with Serial number BTD/0257903122/20 drew the lucky number:
6-7-17-19-26-35, which subsequently won you the promo in the 2nd
category.

Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your
winning promo information confidential until your claims has been
processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our security
protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this
program by some individuals. Winnings were selected through a computer
drawn system from over 20,000,000 company and 30,000,000 individual
email addresses and names from all over the world.

This promotional for a product program takes place every three years
and is being sponsored by Bill Gates, President of the World Largest
software, we hope with part of your winning you will continue using
any of our Windows, software version, authorized OS and login into
your email account online in our next subsequent stake that will be
held in December 2023; Â£20 Million to be won.

To file for your claim, contact our Trustee Processing Agent
REV. MATT MEYER OF EQUITY BANKING OF WALES OFFICE, WALES, who is our
accredited representative for the processing and legal documentations
of your claim. Contact him with your Ref and Batch numbers on his
email: mattequity@hotmail.com

Be aware that the Paying Bank will Effect Payment Swiftly upon
satisfactory Report, Verification and validation provided by our
processing Agent; that would be designated to your file. Remember, all
winning must be claimed not later than 30th of SEPTEMBER 2020.

After this date all unclaimed funds will go to the Trust Fund. Please
note that in order to avoid unnecessary delay and complications kindly
remember to quote your reference information in all correspondences.
Furthermore, should there be any change of contact information, inform
our Agent as soon as possible. Congratulations once more from all our
members of staff and thank you for using in winning of our promotional
program.

Note: Anybody under the age of 18 years is AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED
from this and subsequent promo.

Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Tina Brown,
Promo Coordinator,
Windows Inc.
#111, Windows Inc. way,
Inc. Center, WSI 96022,
Dominican Republic.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam