The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam

There is no "2020 Microsoft Award" lottery or sweepstakes, therefore, recipients of fake email messages like the one below, which claim they are winners in the same so-called lottery, are asked to delete the email messages and should not follow the instructions in them. The fake emails are being sent by lottery scammers who are attempting to trick their potential victims into believing they are lottery winners and subsequently trick them into sending their personal information and money.

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The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam

The "Microsoft Promotion Award 2020" Lottery Scam

Attn:

Congratulation!!!

Your e-mail address has won $2million for 2020 Microsoft award. Serial numbers

MDB/002 0869958/09 Contact (ADVOCATE FRANKLIN EDWARD) immediately; through his

email address ( franklinedward1@yandex.com ) or phone number 27736394004 and

forward him your Winning No.(19-45-87-36-76-38(77), to redeem your winning prize.

Sincerely,

Dr. Elizabeth Henning.

Copyright © 2020 Microsoft! Inc. All rights reserved.

Once you are asked to send money in order to receive a lottery prize, it is a scam. Legitimate lottery companies will never ask their winners to send money in order to receive their prize.

Check the comment section below for additional information, share what you know, or ask a question about this article by leaving a comment below. And, to quickly find answers to your questions, use our search Search engine.

Note: Some of the information in samples on this website may have been impersonated or spoofed.

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Comments, Questions, Answers, or Reviews

Comments (Total: 19)

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March 5, 2024 at 1:02 AM by
The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam
an anonymous user from: Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden

I received this scam:

"Microsoft Award Lottery Detaljer

fgodec@nerim.net

You have been selected for a cash prize of £1,500,000.00 GBP in the ongoing, MICROSOFT ONLINE PROMOTION. Contact your claims agent. Mr. Ben Oris by replying to this message Claims Agent Officer Phone : 44-705-384-8160"

Delete

November 28, 2021 at 6:55 AM by
The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam
an anonymous user from: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

"Congratulation!

Your e-mail address has won $2million for 2021 Microsoft Award. Serial

numbers MDB/002 0869958/09 Contact (ADVOCATE FRANKLIN EDWARD)

immediately; through his email address (franklinedward04@aol.com) or..."

Received this scam.

Delete

February 3, 2021 at 11:12 AM by
The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam
info

Here is another scam:

"From: y14 . - y14@gcuto.in

Sent: Saturday, 30 January 2021, 12:15:52 GMT

Subject: Winner No. 2

MICROSOFT CORPERATION!

MICROSOFT E-MAIL SELECT AWARD HELD IN JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICA

Congratulations!

Your active email address has just won you the sum of $1, 000, 000.00 USD (ONE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLAR) in our annual international Microsoft Promotion Award held in Johannesburg South Africa, Award winners emerged through random selection of thousands of active email subscribers online. Three out of thousands of emails benefit from this promotion annually.

Winners are to be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Centre. This Prize Award must be claimed in not less than 60 days from date of draw and notification, after which unclaimed prizes will be cancelled.

YOU ARE A WINNER NO: 2

These are your identification numbers below:

Batch Number: TB/08/GNIM-432757ZAR

Reference Number: TPN565482019B

Award File Security code: SA/ QU3101101

Kindly contact the processing manager with the details below:

Dr Riaan Evert.

Telephone: 27 68 222 8019

Email: awardsection@collector.org

Email: awardssection@gmail.com

Office Address: 3 Rivonia Rd, Illovo, Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa, 2196.

Kindly send the following information to him for the facilitation/release of your fund.

1. Full Name:

2. Country of Origin:

3. Country of Resident:

4. Telephone Number:

5. Fax Number:

6. S*x/Gender:

7. Age:

8. Marital Status:

9. Winning Email Address:

10. Occupation:

11. Contact Address:

12. Copy of your ID, International passport or Drivers license:

Once our agent acknowledges receipt of this required detail, transfer would commenc...

Delete

November 27, 2020 at 4:47 AM by
The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam
an anonymous user from: Sector 18, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

"this is to inform you that your winning prize of (90lakh inr) awarded to you by microsoft company in (u.K) has been approved, the royal bank of scotland new delhi branch are in charge of the transfer, please check your mail for more details, and send your account details for your fund transfer to :rbsonlinebanking@scotlandmail.Com"

i got this message

Delete

October 13, 2020 at 11:17 PM by
The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam
an anonymous user from: Bangladesh

Received this scam:

"number BH444-556-998,

serial number MS-UK/102C5/20, and drew the lucky numbers: 34-22-62-16-45-11 which subsequently won the mega jackpot amount of GBP2, 000.000.00 (Two million Great British pounds sterling) in the 1st category. Cash credited to File N0: KPC/9030108308/55.

ZAKIR"

Delete

October 6, 2020 at 1:44 AM by
The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam
an anonymous user from: Dhaka, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh

Hi,

I have received this email:

Robert Smith <robertsmith.manager1@gmail.com>

Bcc:

ohidul.hero@yahoo.com

Mon, Oct 5 at 1:54 PM

For your security we disabled links in this email. If you believe it is safe to use, mark this message as not spam.

2020 MICROSOFT LOTTERY AWARD PROMOTION

Barley House, Hard Road Sutton,

Greater London SM1 4TE United Kingdom

CONGRATULATIONS!

Dear Lucky Winner,

We are pleased to inform you that Microsoft Corporation announced you a winner of GBP2, 000.000.00 (Two Million Great British Pounds Sterling).

Please note that Microsoft Corporation rolled out £10,000.000.00 for the 2020 Promotion Anniversary Award conducted every (5) year to encourage the use of internet and computers worldwide. All participants email addresses were randomly selected through an online Computer ballot System, drawn from a collection of frequent Internet email users all over the world From (America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Oceanic and Australia) attaching personal email addresses to ticket numbers.

Your active email address was attached to ticket number BH444-556-998, with serial number MS-UK/102C5/20, and drew the lucky numbers: 34-22-62-16-45-11 which subsequently won the mega jackpot amount of GBP2, 000.000.00 (Two million Great British pounds sterling) in the 1st category. Cash credited to File N0: KPC/9030108308/55.

You are therefore been approved for a cash payment of Two Million British Pounds (£2, 000,000.00). Please note that your file and lucky winning number falls within our Africa Representative office in South Africa. In view of this, your prize money will be released to you through an assigned Agent in South Africa. For immediate release of your lottery fund, kindly contact your Claim Agent on the below details:

CLAIM AGENT

Name: Mr. Larry Williams

Email: larrywilliams@webmail.co.za

Email: mrlarrywilliams9@gmail.com

Phone: 27787823096

You are also advised to send the following information to your Claims Agent to facilitate release of your fund to you.

1. Full Names:

2. Country:

3. Resident Address:

4. Tel/Mobile Number:

5. Occupation:

6. Gender:

7. Age:

8. Copy of your International Passport or ID card:

For security measures, you are strongly advised to keep your winning "Reference Numbers" confidential until your claim is successfully processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim it. This measure helps us to prevent Double Claims.

Yours Faithfully,

Mr. Robert Smith

(Microsoft Lottery Coordinator)

Delete

August 28, 2020 at 11:30 AM by
The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam
an anonymous user from: Islamabad, Pakistan

I received this fake message:

YOUR MOBILE NUMBER HAS WON YOU £800,000 IN 2020 UK PEPSI MOBILE PROMO,TO CLAIM SEND YOUR NAME MOBILE NUMBER AND YOUR AGE TO: pepsidrawukwon@outlook.com

Delete

August 16, 2020 at 1:30 PM by
The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam
info

"From: MICROSOFT AWARD <su17@tgcca.in>

Subject: MICROSOFT AWARD LOTTERY 2020.

Date: 16 August 2020 at 14:18:05 BST

Reply-To: MICROSOFT AWARD <jm9930545@gmail.com>

MICROSOFT AWARD LOTTERY 2020.

British Microsoft Award Headquarters:

Customer service: Cardinal Place

80-100 Victoria Street London SW1E 5JL.

ATTN: WINNER,

YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS HAVE WON MICROSOFT 2020 AWARD PRIZE MONEY OF (NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND GREAT BRITISH POUNDS STERLING).(950,000.00 GREAT BRITISH POUNDS STERLING) AWARD WINNERS EMERGE THROUGH RANDOM SELECTION OF ALL ACTIVE EMAIL ADDRESSES ONLINE.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM

Winners are to be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Center, Please contact our claim agent in SOUTH AFRICA as soon as you receive this email winning notification.

WINNER NO: MSN/NOW/2020-15 21 30 39 40 47 2020

THESE ARE YOUR WINNING IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS AS LISTED BELOW:

Batch Number = YPB/08/APA-43658.

Reference Number = YPN560992010.

Award File Security code = UK/ZA/UK2020.

THESE NUMBERS FALL WITHIN THE SOUTH AFRICA FILE. THUS, YOU ARE REQUESTED TO CONTACT OUR CLAIM AGENT IN JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA AND SEND YOUR DETAILS AS LISTED BELOW, INCLUDING WINNING IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS TO HER:

CONTACT OUR AGENT IN SOUTH AFRICA WITH DETAILS BELOW.

NAME : MRS. LINDA

PHONE: 27835070304

E-MAIL : m.online@email.com

KINDLY SEND THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO YOUR CLAIM AGENT TO FACILITATE THE RELEASE OF YOUR FUND.

1. Full Name .

2. Country of Residence..

3. Telephone Number ..

4. Fax Number..

5. S*x ...

6. Date of birth

7. Marital Status ...

8. E-Mail Address: .

9. Occupation..

10. Contact Address.

Once your agent acknowledges receipt of this required detail, payment process would commence immediately

WINNERS ARE ADVISED TO KEEP THEIR WINNING INFORMATION SECRET TO AVOID FRAUDULENT CLAIM (IMPORTANT) PENDING THE TRANSFER/CLAIM BY WINNER.

Begin forwarded message:"

Here is another scam.

Delete

August 14, 2020 at 12:09 PM by
The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam
an anonymous user from: Nairobi, Nairobi Province, Kenya

"Microsoft Corporation.

2 Kingdom St, London

W2 6BD, United Kingdom

Ref: MICRO/968/07

Batch: 409978SOFT

Dear Lucky Winner,

I am in receipt to your mail, My names are Mr. Ben Oris your Microsoft Promotion Agent, and my duty is to lead you through the process of claiming your winning prize of £500,000.00 Pounds in the on-going British Microsoft Promotional Award programs and make sure it is claimed by the rightful owner of this email address

In line with the commemorating event marking our 42th anniversary we rolled out over £16,000.000.00 ( Sixteen Million Great Britain Pounds) for our 42th Anniversary Draws. All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 25,000 company Emails, and 30,000,000 individual Email Users from the 42 Email Networks from Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa as part of International Promotions Program, which is conducted annually in United Kingdom.

In other for me to proceed with your winning claim process, you are kindly advices to fill our form below to enable me proceed with your winning claim process. This is for security reason and also to avoid unwarranted claiming of winnings by any third party.

THIS SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY THE BENEFICIARY OF THE STATED FUND, FOR VERIFICATION BEFORE TRANSFER.

(1) Ref #MICRO/968/07

(2) Batch #409978SOFT

(3) BENEFICIARY FIRST NAME_

(4) BENEFICIARY LAST NAME_

(5) NATIONALITY_

(6) RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS_

(7) DATE OF BIRTH_

(8) SEX_

(9) TEL. NUMBER_

(10) OCCUPATION_

(11) MARITAL STATUS_

DECLARATION:

I_HEREBY

DECLARE THAT THE ABOVE DATA ARE TRUE. THAT MY CLAIMS AGENT SHALL ACT AS A FACILITATOR IN THE TRANSFER OF THE TOTAL FUND TO ME.

DATE_

(YOUR FULL NAMES)_

Note: You are kindly advise to keep your Ref Number and Batch Number personal for security reason.

Congratulations to you from the entire board of the British Microsoft Award Team.

Mr. Ben Oris.

Tell: 44 705-384-8160

MICROSOFT PROMOTION AGENT.

UNITED KINGDOM."

Another scam.

Delete

July 15, 2020 at 10:16 PM by
The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam
an anonymous user from: Bangladesh

"YAHOO LOTTERY PROMO AWARD

Cyprain Venatius <cyprainvenatiuspromo_award@yahoo.com>

Yesterday, 02:32 PM

Download

Subject: YAHOO LOTTERY PROMO AWARD

View Attached"

Here is another scam.

Delete

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Pay the safest way

Credit cards are the safest way to pay for online purchases because you can dispute the charges if you never get the goods or services or if the offer was misrepresented. Federal law limits your liability to $50 if someone makes unauthorized charges to your account, and most credit card issuers will remove them completely if you report the problem promptly.

Guard your personal information

In any transaction you conduct, make sure to check with your state or local consumer protection agency and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if the seller, charity, company, or organization is credible. Be especially wary if the entity is unfamiliar to you. Always call the number found on a website’s contact information to make sure the number legitimately belongs to the entity you are dealing with.

Be careful of the information you share

Never give out your codes, passwords or personal information, unless you are sure of who you're dealing with

Know who you’re dealing with

Crooks pretending to be from companies you do business with may call or send an email, claiming they need to verify your personal information. Don’t provide your credit card or bank account number unless you are actually paying for something and know who you are sending payment to. Your social security number should not be necessary unless you are applying for credit. Be especially suspicious if someone claiming to be from a company with whom you have an account asks for information that the business already has.

Check your accounts

Regularly check your account transactions and report any suspicious or unauthorised transactions.

Don’t believe promises of easy money

If someone claims that you can earn money with little or no work, get a loan or credit card even if you have bad credit, or make money on an investment with little or no risk, it’s probably a scam. Oftentimes, offers that seem too good to be true, actually are too good to be true.

Do not open email from people you don’t know

If you are unsure whether an email you received is legitimate, try contacting the sender directly via other means. Do not click on any links in an email unless you are sure it is safe.

Think before you click

If an email or text message looks suspicious, don’t open any attachments or click on the links.

Verify urgent requests or unsolicited emails, messages or phone calls before you respond

If you receive a message or a phone call asking for immediate action and don't know the sender, it could be a phishing message.

Be careful with links and new website addresses

Malicious website addresses may appear almost identical to legitimate sites. Scammers often use a slight variation in spelling or logo to lure you. Malicious links can also come from friends whose email has unknowingly been compromised, so be careful.

Secure your personal information

Before providing any personal information, such as your date of birth, Social Security number, account numbers, and passwords, be sure the website is secure.

Stay informed on the latest cyber threats

Keep yourself up to date on current scams by visiting this website daily.

Use Strong Passwords

Strong passwords are critical to online security.

Keep your software up to date and maintain preventative software programs

Keep all of your software applications up to date on your computers and mobile devices. Install software that provides antivirus, firewall, and email filter services.

Update the operating systems on your electronic devices

Make sure your operating systems (OSs) and applications are up to date on all of your electronic devices. Older and unpatched versions of OSs and software are the target of many hacks. Read the CISA security tip on Understanding Patches and Software Updates for more information.

What if You Got Scammed?

Stop Contact With The Scammer

Hang up the phone. Do not reply to emails, messages, or letters that the scammer sends. Do not make any more payments to the scammer. Beware of additional scammers who may contact you claiming they can help you get your lost money back.

Secure Your Finances

  • Report potentially compromised bank account, credit or debit card information to your financial institution(s) immediately. They may be able to cancel or reverse fraudulent transactions.
  • Notify the three major credit bureaus. They can add a fraud alert to warn potential credit grantors that you may be a victim of identity theft. You may also want to consider placing a free security freeze on your credit report. Doing so prevents lenders and others from accessing your credit report entirely, which will prevent them from extending credit:

Check Your Computer

If your computer was accessed or otherwise affected by a scam, check to make sure that your anti-virus is up-to-date and running and that your system is free of malware and keylogging software. You may also need to seek the help of a computer repair company. Consider utilizing the Better Business Bureau’s website to find a reputable company.

Change Your Account Passwords

Update your bank, credit card, social media, and email account passwords to try to limit further unauthorized access. Make sure to choose strong passwords when changing account passwords.

Report The Scam

Reporting helps protect others. While agencies can’t always track down perpetrators of crimes against scammers, they can utilize the information gathered to record patterns of abuse which may lead to action being taken against a company or industry.

Report your issue to the following agencies based on the nature of the scam:

  • Local Law Enforcement: Consumers are encouraged to report scams to their local police department or sheriff’s office, especially if you lost money or property or had your identity compromised.
  • Federal Trade Commission: Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or use the Online Complaint Assistant to report various types of fraud, including counterfeit checks, lottery or sweepstakes scams, and more.
  • Identitytheft.gov: If someone is using your personal information, like your Social Security, credit card, or bank account number, to open new accounts, make purchases, or get a tax refund, report it at www.identitytheft.gov. This federal government site will also help you create your Identity Theft Report and a personal recovery plan based on your situation. Questions can be directed to 877-ID THEFT.

How To Recognize a Phishing Scam

Scammers use email or text messages to try to steal your passwords, account numbers, or Social Security numbers. If they get that information, they could get access to your email, bank, or other accounts. Or they could sell your information to other scammers. Scammers launch thousands of phishing attacks like these every day — and they’re often successful.

Scammers often update their tactics to keep up with the latest news or trends, but here are some common tactics used in phishing emails or text messages:

Phishing emails and text messages often tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. You might get an unexpected email or text message that looks like it’s from a company you know or trust, like a bank or a credit card or utility company. Or maybe it’s from an online payment website or app. The message could be from a scammer, who might

  • say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity or log-in attempts — they haven’t
  • claim there’s a problem with your account or your payment information — there isn’t
  • say you need to confirm some personal or financial information — you don’t
  • include an invoice you don’t recognize — it’s fake
  • want you to click on a link to make a payment — but the link has malware
  • say you’re eligible to register for a government refund — it’s a scam
  • offer a coupon for free stuff — it’s not real

About Online Threat Alerts (OTA)

Online Threat Alerts or OTA is an anti-cybercrime community that started in 2012. OTA alerts the public to cyber crimes and other web threats.

By alerting the public, we have prevented a lot of online users from getting scammed or becoming victims of cybercrimes.

With the ever-increasing number of people going online, it important to have a community like OTA that continuously alerts or protects those same people from cyber-criminals, scammers and hackers, who are every day finding new ways of carrying out their malicious activities.

Online users can help by reporting suspicious or malicious messages or websites to OTA. And, if they want to determine if a message or website is a threat or scam, they can use OTA's search engine to search for the website or parts of the message for information.

Help maintain Online Threat Alerts (OTA).

The 2020 Microsoft Award Lottery Scam