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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: PAYMENT OPTIONS / DELIVERY PROCEDURE <team1985@live.com>
Reply-To: prize_dispatchunit@live.com
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:02:16 +0200
Subject: *****SPAM*****


Spam detection software, running on the system "mail.tugab.bg", has
identified this incoming email as possible spam. The original message
has been attached to this so you can view it (if it isn't spam) or label
similar future email. If you have any questions, see
The administrator of that system for details.

Content preview: MICROSOFT AWARD TEAM Microsoft Award Team 102 Eaton Square
London SW1 W9AN United Kingdom. Reference number: BTD/968/08 Batch number:
409978E Pin Number: 91240076 VERIFICATION CODE: 876590-MICROSOFT-98900. [...]


Content analysis details: (5.5 points, 5.0 required)

pts rule name description
---- ---------------------- --------------------------------------------------
-1.8 ALL_TRUSTED Passed through trusted hosts only via SMTP
1.3 MISSING_HEADERS Missing To: header
-0.2 BAYES_40 BODY: Bayesian spam probability is 20 to 40%
[score: 0.2420]
2.9 KAM_LOTTO1 Likely to be a e-Lotto Scam Email
1.8 MISSING_SUBJECT Missing Subject: header
2.0 LOTTERY_PH_004470 LOTTERY_PH_004470
-0.5 AWL AWL: From: address is in the auto white-list



Anti-fraud resources: