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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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: "TOYOTA CAR PROMOTION DEPARTMENT" <info@toyota.com>
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 10:22:25 +0700 (WIT)
Subject: *****SPAM***** PERSONAL EMAIL


Spam detection software, running on the system "mx.tsipil.ugm.ac.id", 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: TOYOTA CAR PROMOTION DEPARTMENT TOYOTA MOTOR SALES,UNIT=
ED
KINGDOM, INC. 2 LANSDOWNE ROW, BERKELEY SQUARE LONDON, W1J 6H, UNITED K=
INGDOM
Dear Lottery Winner, This is to inform you that have been selected for=
a
Cash prize of‚=A3600,000.00.(Six Hundred Thousand Great British P=
ounds)and
a brand new Toyota Camry Hybrid car International programs held in Lon=
don
Uk. The selection process was carried out through random selection in =
our
computerized email selection system(ess) from a database of over 250,0=
00
email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world. This Toyota=
car
Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by t=
he
International Association of Gaming Regulators(IAGR).To begin the proce=
ssing
of your prize you are to contact your claims officer through our accre=
dited
Prize Transfer agents as stated below: [...]=20

Content analysis details: (6.3 points, 3.0 required)

pts rule name description
---- ---------------------- ---------------------------------------------=
-----
-1.4 ALL_TRUSTED Passed through trusted hosts only via SMTP
1.8 SUBJ_ALL_CAPS Subject is all capitals
3.2 DEAR_WINNER BODY: DEAR_WINNER
1.2 KAM_LOTTO2 Highly Likely to be a e-Lotto Scam Email
1.6 KAM_LOTTO1 Likely to be a e-Lotto Scam Email
-0.0 AWL AWL: From: address is in the auto white-list

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam