Original Phishing Message
Tips for Detection
- Notice the “Caution” banner at the top of the email. That banner is added to email messages that match patterns of previous phishing attempts. Please note that the absence of a banner does not necessarily mean an email is safe.
- Too good to be true! If an email seems too good to be true, it probably is. Offering 1.5 million dollars out of the blue certainly meets that qualification.
- It is a bit odd that the sending email address o.matcegora[@]green-agro[.]ru is not the email address where the individual asks replies to be sent to (adriangillian982020[@]gmail[.]com).
What would have happened if I replied?
Most likely, you may have been asked for your bank account and/or routing number to make the transfer. Either, the financial information was sufficient for the attacker to steal funds from you. Otherwise, a more subtle method could be to transfer an excess sum than what was promised (e.g. 2 million) then ask for the remainder back (e.g. 500k). The original transfer would be later noticed as fraudulent and you would be short the funds they asked you to transfer back to them.
Text of Original Phishing Message
We are Gillian and Adrian Bayford. My wife and I won the biggest Euro Millions lottery prize of 148 Million GBP and we just commenced our Charity Donation and we will be giving out a cash donation of 1,500,000.00 GBP to 5 lucky individuals and 10 charity organizations from any part of the world. Your email address was submitted to my wife and I by the Google Management Team and you are therefore approved 1,500,000.00 GBP Send your reply via [email addresss redacted].