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.
  • richard_hans@tiscali.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "Michael Smith" <michaelsmith@asbaplanet.com>
Reply-To: richard_hans@tiscali.co.uk
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 11:39:01 +0000
Subject: Congratulations!!!

The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
                                     WINNING NOTIFICATION:
We happily announce to you the draw (#458) of the THUNDERBALL WINNING under the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program held on tuesday 5TH of October,2005.
 Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188
with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers  

which subsequently won you the lottery of the Jackpot Prize.You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of  Four million pounds sterling in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.All participants for the online version were selected randomly fromWorld Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listedonline. This promotion takes place weekly.
   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 Four million pounds sterling would be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe.
   Our European agent will immediately commence the process to
facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.
  For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning
information confidential 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 avoid double claiming and unwarranted
abuse of this program. Please be warned.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary
agent:

Mr.Richard hans.

Email: richard_hans@tiscali.co.uk

Goodluck from me and members of staff of the UK
NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Michael Smith.
Online coordinator for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.

                    ©  Copyright 1994-2005 The UK National Lottery Inc.
                     All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guidelines.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam