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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +447040111559 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +448712395972 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • praveen365@yahoo.co.in

Fraud email example:

From: "Europe Payment Director An post International"
<maxwell_blair@anpostinternational.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 12:14:00 +0000
Subject: Congratulations

Attention: Mr.B.Praveendas

I am Mr.Blair Maxwell, the fiduciary agent assigned to
your case. I wish to Congratulate you on your victory,
you are a lucky person to have won this lottery. Your
email address was amongst those chosen this quarter
from our new java-based software that randomly selects
email addresses from the web from which winners are
selected.
You are required to forward the following details to
help facilitate the processing of your claims and
certificate which will facilitate the release of your
winnings.

1. Full legitimate names.
2. Complete address
3. Phone and Fax numbers.
4. Occupation.
5. Sex.
6. Age.
7. Nationality.
8.Batch Number
9.Winning Numbers
10.Reference Number

You are advised to forward this information as soon as
possible to enable us attend to your winnings. Our
firm has been contracted to handle payments on your
behalf, once we confirm your information, your
payments would be processed.

Everything was done in such a way that our payments
mode would meet the standards set by the Lottery
boards.After you have sent down these information, a
certificate will be prepared for you. This is to be
your proof of winning from this office to the payment
center before they release your funds. Be advised that
your winnings would be paid to you in Two(2)
instalments of GBP500,000 {FIVE Hundred Thousand
Pounds}each. This is done because of the amount won by
you. You are advised to keep your winning numbers
secret to avoid unscrupulous elements from taking
advantage of the situation.

Once again, congratulations.

Sincerely,

Mr.Blair Maxwell
Payment Director
Europe Payment Office London
Anpost International Lottery Company.
Tel:+44-7040-111559(24hrs)
Fax:+44-871 239 5972


>From: praveen das <praveen365@yahoo.co.in>
>To: maxwell_blair@anpostinternational.com
>Subject: how to claim
>Date: Sun, 9 Oct 2005 06:34:33 +0100 (BST)
>
>Dear sir,

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam