419 scam: Mrs Elizabeth Allen <sanslamido@gmail.com> DEAR SIR/MADAM,%

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- ",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)
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!
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mrselizzyallen@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Mrs Elizabeth Allen <sanslamido@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrselizzyallen@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2017 09:54:59 -0400
Subject: DEAR SIR/MADAM,%

*UK LOTTERY PROGRAMDEAR SIR/MADAM,We are pleased to inform you about the
result of our Lottery DRAWS HELD on the 02/01/2017 and announced on
03/01/2017. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 27522465896-532
with serial number 652-662 drew lucky numbers 7-14-18-23-31-45 which
consequently won in the 1st category. You have therefore been approved for
a lump sum pay of GBP1.3Million note that. All participants in this lottery
program have been selected randomly through a computer ballot system drawn
from over 200,000 companies and 400,000,000 individual email addressesfrom
all search engines and web sites.This promotional program takes place every
year, and is promoted and sponsored by eminent world personalities like the
(SULTAN of Brunei, Bill Gates of Microsoft Inc and other corporate
organizations). This is to encourage the use of the internet and computers
worldwide. For security purpose and clarity, (we advise that you keep your
winning Information confidential until your claims have been processed and
your money remitted to you. ) This is part of our security protocol to
avoid double claims and unwarranted abuse of this program by some
participants. We look forward to your active participation in our next year
USD500 million slot. You are requested to contact our
LOTTERYCOORDINATOR:Mr. Smith WilsonE-Mail: repsmithwilson@outlook.com
<repsmithwilson@outlook.com>All winnings must be claimed not later than
31/01/2017. Please note, in order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, remember to quote your WINNING NUMBERS, SERIAL numbers, and
TICKET numbers in all correspondence. Furthermore, if should there be any
change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible.Congratulations
once more and thank you for being part of ourpromotional program. You are
required to reply to this email:mrselizzyallen@gmail.com
<mrselizzyallen@gmail.com> for further details.NOTE: YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY
DISQUALIFIED IF YOU ARE BELOW 18 YEARS OF AGE.Sincerely yours,Mrs.
Elizabeth Allen. (Secretary)mrselizzyallen@gmail.com
<mrselizzyallen@gmail.com>*

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam