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.
  • +447031945259 (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.
  • nelson_123@excite.com

Fraud email example:

From: "British International Lottery" <service_online_chambers@msn.com>
Reply-To: nelson_123@exite.com
Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 13:27:30 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION 06

British Lottery Headquarters: Customer Service 28 TANFIELD ROAD, CROYDON.LONDON   Ref: BTL/491OXI/06   Batch: 12/25/0304   WINNING NOTIFICATION                                                We happily announce to you the draw of the British Lottery International Online Sweepstakes International program held on the 25th of Dec. 2005 in London. Your e-mailaddress attached to ticket number: 564 75600545-188 with serial number 5388/02 drew the lucky numbers: 31-6-26-13-35-7,which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category. That is  Match 5 plus bonus as part of the New Year Bonus Programm.  All participants for the online version wereselected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations,Schools, Clubs and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place monthly.   You have therefore been approved to claim atotal sum of £250,000.00( Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds Sterlings ) in cash credited to file BTLNYB/9080118308/06 made available from a total cash prize of US £35 Million Pounds Sterlings, shared amongst the first Hundred (100) lucky winners in this category. Thisyears Lottery Program Jackpot is the largest ever for British Lottery .The estimated £25 million jackpot would be the sixth-biggest in U.K. history.   Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in ourplay coupon. In view of this, your £250,000.00( Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds Sterlings ) would be released to you by our payment office in London. Our agent will immediately commence the facilitation of release of your prize money to you as soon as youestablish contact with him.    Our winners are assured of the utmost standards of confidentiality, and press anonymity until the end of the claim, and beyond where they so desire. Be further advised to maintain the strictest level of confidentiality until the endof proceedings to circumvent problems associated with fraudulent claims. 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 with the below details for processing of your claims.   FIDUCIARY AGENT, OVERSEAS CLAIMS UNIT AGENT: PASTOR SAMMY N. ERIKSON Email:  nelson_123@excite.com Tel :+447031945259   To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your reference/batch numbers in any correspondences with our designated agent. Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this program.   Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program. Sincerely yours, Happy New Year!!   Paul Green Zonal Coordinator.

--

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam