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:

• 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.
  • +447023056828 (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.
  • validatingdesk@winning.com

Fraud email example:

From: "SWEEPSTAKES ONLINE LOTTERY DEPARTMENT" <sweepstakesdepartment0004@msn.com>
Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 01:00:12 +0000
Subject: OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION!!!

SWEEPSTAKES ONLINE LOTTERY DEPARTMENT. P O Box 4539. #24 Lyndhurst Road, London NW3 5PQ, United Kingdom. Ref  : UK/9420X2/68. Batch: 074/05/ZY369. (Customer Services) 6/1/2006 DEAR WINNER: OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION: We happily announce to you the Draw Number:124 of the SWEEPSTAKES ONLINE LOTTERY DEPARTMENT PROGRAMME held on Monday 8th of November, 2005. Your e-mail address attached to Ticket Number:56475600545188 with Serial number:5368/02 drew the Lucky Numbers:4-7-18-19-35-40 with(bonus no.25), which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 6 lucky numbers plus bonus no.25. Our winners are arranged into four categories with different winning prizes accordingly in each category.They are arranged in this format below:   CATEGORY      NO.OF WINNERS          WINNING PRIZES   1st.              6             USD.$1,350,000:00 each   2nd.             20             USD.$850,000:00 each   3rd.             45             USD.$470,000:00 each   4th.             75             USD.$170,000:00 each      Your e-mail won you the prize in the 2nd category, You have therefore been approved to claim the total sum of USD$850,000:00 (Eight hundred and fifty thousand, United States Dollars) in cash credited to file.This is from a total cash prize of USD$59 Million dollars,shared amongst the first one hundred and forty six (146) lucky winners in this categories. All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place annually. your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet repre- sentative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your USD$850,000:00 (Eight hundred and fifty thousand United States Dollars)will 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 claim 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 your Valdating Officer for VALIDATION of your winning within Twenty-nine days of this winning notification.Winnings that are not validated within Twenty-nine days of winning notification are termed void and invalid.  ******************************************************************* Name  :Dr. Sten F.williams E-mail: validatingdesk@winning.com Foreign Services Validating Officer, Sweepstakes Online Lottery Department, P O Box 4539, #24 Lyndhurst Road, London NW3 5PQ, United Kingdom. Tel.Phone:+44 702 305 6828. Fax:+44 7092867114. ******************************************************************** Note:Endeavour to email him your full names,winning numbers,email address,telephone and fax numbers immediately to enable him validate your winning. Unvalidated winnings after Twenty-nine days of winning notification will be termed invalid and void. Congratulations from me and members of staff of SWEEPSTAKES ONLINE LOTTERY DEPARTMENT.   Yours faithfully,   ...................... Rose Wood (Mrs) Online coordinator, For: SWEEPSTAKES ONLINE LOTTERY DEPARTMENT.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam