419 scam: FREE LOTTERY ORGANISATION <imf------office@sbcglobal.net> Your e-mail address has won you GBP4,600,000.00

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:

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:
- "million pounds" (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: FREE LOTTERY ORGANISATION <imf------office@sbcglobal.net>
Reply-To: mrkelvingeorge@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:55:15 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Your e-mail address has won you GBP4,600,000.00

Your
e-mail address has won you GBP4,600,000.00

UK
LOTTERY ORGANIZATION

TICKET FREE/ONLINE
E-MAIL ADDRESS WINNINGS DEPARTMENT.

Are
you the correct owner of this email address? If yes then be glad this
day as the result of the UK lotto online e-mail address free-ticket
winning draws of January 2nd 2011 has just been released and we are glad
to announce to you that your email address won you the sweepstakes in
the first category and you are entitled to claim the sum of
GBP4.6Million Pounds.

Your email address was
entered for the online draw on this ticket #:NDB8109525637 and won on
this Lucky #: MX014926583 You are to contact Mr.kelvin George On the
below email address for options on how to receive your won prize of
GBP4.6M.Pounds. To enable Mr.kelvin George ascertain you as the rightful
winner and receiver of the GBP4.6Million Pounds. chaque, MAKE SURE you
include the below listed information in your contact mail to him.
Your
complete official names, country of origin and country of
residence/work, contact telephone and mobile numbers, address, amount
won, free ticket and lucky numbers, date of draw. OPTIONAL: - [Sex, age,
occupation and job title].

UK.L.O.
Online
Winning Notification Department.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam