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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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:

• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "international lottery programme" (no such lottery exists)
• 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)
  • "00,000.00" (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!

Fraud email example:

From: "MR.KENNY MORGAN" <info@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: redemptioncenter@hotmail.co.uk
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:58:00 +0100
Subject: *****SPAM***** Email Promotion 2008


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: EUROPEAN PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT WINNING NOTIFICATION/ PROCESSING
ADVISE Security Code No.ULI/APRXX/05 Ref: UK/9420X/68 Batch: 07405/ZY369
Winning no: GB8701/LPRC Dear Lucky Winner, We are delighted to inform you
of your prize release this month from the United Kingdom International Lottery
programme. Which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners using
their e-mail addresses.Your name was attached to ticket number; 5647560054
serial number 5360/02 This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 7-27-29-37-14
bonus number 40, which consequently won you the lottery in the second category.You
hereby have been approved a lump sum pay of 1.5,000,000GBP.(I.5 MILLION GREAT
BRITAIN POUNDS) in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 47509/02 from the total cash
prize of 1.5,000,000.00GBP. [...]

Content analysis details: (7.8 points, 5.0 required)

pts rule name description
---- ---------------------- --------------------------------------------------
-1.8 ALL_TRUSTED Passed through trusted hosts only via SMTP
2.3 FORGED_YAHOO_RCVD 'From' yahoo.com does not match 'Received' headers
1.3 MISSING_HEADERS Missing To: header
3.2 DEAR_WINNER BODY: DEAR_WINNER
-2.6 BAYES_00 BODY: Bayesian spam probability is 0 to 1%
[score: 0.0006]
1.6 KAM_LOTTO2 Highly Likely to be a e-Lotto Scam Email
2.9 KAM_LOTTO1 Likely to be a e-Lotto Scam Email
2.0 LOTTERY_PH_004470 LOTTERY_PH_004470
-1.0 AWL AWL: From: address is in the auto white-list

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam