joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"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:
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • johncook772000@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "Chris Douglas" <chrisdouglas76@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 11:14:29 +0000
Subject: Congratulations!

Global Lottery Headquarters:
Customer Service
an Affiliate of Fund money International.
Arena Complex 103/106 MAYFAIR LONDON,
WC1A 3RE I.P.P Award Dept.
Ref: EAS/941OYI/03
Batch:03/06/MA34

WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We happily announce to you the draw of the Global Lottery Sweepstakes
International programs held on the 10th of July 2005 in South Africa.

Your email address attached to ticket number:56475600545 188 with serial
number :5388/02 drew the lucky numbers 23-17-14, which subsequently won you
the lottery in the second category. You have therefore been approved to
claim a total sum of US$2,000,000.00 (Two Million United States Dollars) in
cash credited to fileKPC/9080118308/03. This is from a total cash prize of
US$20 Million Dollars, shared
amongst the first Ten (10)lucky winners in this category.Please note that
your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative
office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon.

In view of this, your US$ 2,000,000.00 (Two Million United States
Dollars)would be released to you by our security firm in Europe.Our
European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the
release of your funds as soon as you contact him.

All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through
computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 companies.This
promotion takes place annually.For security reasons, you are advised to keep
your winning informationconfidential till your claims is processed and your
money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.
This is part of our precautionary
measure to double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some
unscrupulous elements. Please be warned.

To file your claims, please contact our fiduciary agent:
Mr.John Cook
HEAD OF FUND DEPARTMENT
Email:johncook772000@yahoo.co.uk
To avoid unnecessary delay and complications, Please quote your
reference/batch numbers in any correspondences with our designated agent or
us.Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of
thisprogram.Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program.
Sincerely,
Chris Douglas
Global Lottery Promo.



--

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam