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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
  • "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  

Fraud email example:

From: Rosemary Attama <rose@tugab.bg>
Reply-To: mramos_adamu52@live.com
Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2008 03:10:05 +0200
Subject: *****SPAM***** RE: Beneficiary Of $2.5 Million USD


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: ECOWAS SECRETARIAT, ABUJA NIGERIA. P O Box 1010 (Customer
Services) 3rd/09/2008 WE HEREBY USE THIS MEDIUM TO FORMALLY INFORM YOU OF
THE APPROVAL OF YOUR LOTTERY/CONTRACT AND INHERITANCE PAYMENT FROM THE ECOWAS
PARLIAMENT NIGERIA. [...]

Content analysis details: (6.1 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
1.5 MILLION_USD BODY: Talks about millions of dollars
2.4 FRT_DOLLAR BODY: ReplaceTags: Dollar
0.0 BAYES_50 BODY: Bayesian spam probability is 40 to 60%
[score: 0.4068]
1.2 ADVANCE_FEE_2 Appears to be advance fee fraud (Nigerian 419)
1.5 UPPERCASE_75_100 message body is 75-100% uppercase

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam