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:
  • "claims 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.
  • lottonlagent@netscape.net
  • lottonlagent@netscape.net

Fraud email example:

From: Mrs.Y.Van Oort <williamssson@netscape.net>
Reply-To: lottonlagent@netscape.net
Date: Sun, 02 Oct 2005 15:19:04 +0200
Subject: YOU HAVE WON!!! THE 1ST CATEGORY EMAIL BALLOT BONANZA $1.5M.(FINAL NOTICE.) RESULTS FOR "A" DRAW 1ST CATEGORY


LOTTO.NL PROMOTIONS.
www.lotto.nl
From: The Lottery Coordinator,
International Promotions/Prize Award Department
YOU HAVE WON!!! THE 1ST CATEGORY EMAIL BALLOT BONANZA $1.5M.(FINAL NOTICE.) RESULTS FOR "A" DRAW 1ST CATEGORY
Dear Winner,
Congratulations to you as we bring to your
notice, the results of the Email Ballot Bonanza 'A'draw 1st
Category of LOTTO.NL.
We are happy to inform you that you have emerged a winner
under the 1st Category,which is part of our promotional
draws. The draws were held on 22th & 30th September.2005
and results are being officially announced today.1st of October 2005.
Participants were selected through a computer ballot system
drawn from 2,500, 000 names/email addresses of individuals
and companies from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe,
Middle East, and Oceania as part of our International Promotions Program.
Your Email Address, attached to ticket number 6453-0-786,
with serial number 59-18 drew the lucky numbers 90-92-78-05
(67) and consequently won in the First Category.You have therefore
been awarded a lump sum pay out of $1.500,000.00(One million five hundred
thousand Dollars)which is the winning payout for Category A winners.
This is from the total prize money of $6,000,000 Dollars shared
among the 4 winners in this category.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Your funds is now deposited with funds remittance department and
insured to the real value ready for transfer. In your best interest and also to
avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind, we request that you keep
the entire details of your award strictly from public notice until the
process of transfering your claims has been completed, and your funds
remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid
double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants/non
participants of this program.
We also wish to bring to your notice our premium stake draw
where you stand a chance of winning up to 7.2 million
Dollars.We hope that with a part of your prize you will participate.Please
contact your claims agent immediately for due processing and remittance of your prize
money to a designated account of your choice:
Mr.Van Benedict: Email: (lottonlagent@netscape.net)
You can get in touch with your agent via Email till he returns from Vacations
LOTTO.NL
Email Prize Remittance Dept,
(Transfer Managers.)
Mr. A.BROCKWORST.(English Speaking).
MRS.R.KATWIJK.(Dutch Speaking).
You are advised to contact the above by email or fax on
receiving this notice with contact and winning details.
Failure to do so may warrant Disqualification.
NOTE: Due to internet scams,find below your
reference and Batch numbers. Remember to quote these numbers
in every one of your correspondences with your claims agent.REFERENCE
NUMBER: CAP/2031/8161/04 BATCH NUMBER: R3/A312-59.
Congratulations once again from all our staff,this promotional program is promoted by BILL GATES and is done once in every 3 years.
Sincerely,
Mrs.Y.Van Oort
THE LOTTERY CO-ORDINATOR,
LOTTO NL.
N.B: Any breach of inconfidentiality on the part of the winner will result to disqualification. Please do not reply to this mail . Reply to (lottonlagent@netscape.net) contact by telephone by quoting your winning details to your Claims agent immediately for remittance of your winning prize of $1.5 million.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam