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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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 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.
  • +27836826830 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • peterlockman@excite.com

Fraud email example:

From: "awards manager" <pinnacleelectroniclottocrg@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 17:09:39 -0100
Subject: you are a winner



NOTIFICATION OF YOUR LOTTO WINNING

we are pleased to inform you from PINNACLE ELECTRONIC LOTTO INC of the
announcement today, 15TH oF OCTOBER 2005 as one of the lucky winners of The
PINNACLE ELECTRONIC Electronic Lotto Inc Lotto draws, held on the 10TH Of
OCTOBER 2005 as part of Our e-business promotional draws end.
Participants in the draws were selected through a computer ballot
system drawn from 2,500,000 email addresses of individuals and companies
from Africa, America, Asia,Australia, Europe, Middle East,as part of our
electronic business Promotions.

You qualified for the draw as a result of your visiting various
websites we are running the Electronic-business promotions for.
You/Your Company email address, attached with REFERENCE NUMBER:SR-W1CAT ,
BATCH NUMBER: 209.345.SMLT. with serial number 1023-87 drew the lucky
numbers 8, 21, 24, 33, 37, 60,98, and consequently won the 2005 2ND Quarter
draw.

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of
US$2,000,000.00 in cash, which is the winning payout for First category
winners. This is from the total prize money of US$14,000,000.00 shared among
the seven winners in the First category.

CONGRATULATIONS!
Your winnings should be claimed from our Awards Manager Whose detail is
given below.
Due to the mix that may arise from emails of winners and numbers we ask
that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has
been processed and your money remitted to you.This is part of our security
protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of
this program.

We hope with a part of your prize, you will participate in our End
of year (2005) high stakes US$1.1 billion International Lottery. To
begin your claim, please contact our paying agent who also Will be your
claim agent immediately:

MR. PETER LOCKMAN
AWARDS MANAGER
PINNACLE ELECTRONIC LOTTERY
Email: peterlockman@excite.com
phone: +27-836-826830
Fax: +27-123499479

For due processing and remittance of your prize money,
Remember you must contact Awards Manager not later
than 2nd OF NOVEMBER 2005 After this date, all funds
will be returned as unclaimed.

NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, please remember to quote your reference
and batch numbers provided below in every one of your
correspondences with your claims agent.
REFERENCE NUMBER:SR-W1CAT
BATCH NUMBER:209.345.SMLT.

Also to begin your Claim send to Awards Manager the following
information by email.

1)YOUR BATCH AND REFFERENCE NUMBERS and AMOUNT WON
2)YOUR FULL NAME
3)YOUR ADDRESS
4)A COPY OF YOUR ID (PASSPORT OR DRIVERS LISCENCE)
5)CONTACT TLEPHONE, MOBILE PHONE NUMBER AND FAX NUMBER
Congratulations once again from all our staff and
thank you for being part of our promotions program.

Sincerely,

THE LOTTO AWARDS MANAGER,
PINNACLE ELECTRONIC LOTTO INC.
22 PRETORIUS STREET
JOHANNESBURG,
SOUTH AFRICA.

N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the
winners will result to disqualification. Please do not
reply to this mail. Contact your claims agent by emaiL or fax.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam