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")
  • "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 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.
  • karlpaul@myway.com

Fraud email example:

From: "IRISH LOTTERY" <irishlotterydepartment1@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: KarlPaul@myway.com
Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 22:27:11 +0000
Subject: *******CONGRATULATION TO YOU*******

IRISH GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED
IRISH WEB LOTTERY
IS REGISTERED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT OF
(Registration Z720633X).
The Irish Lottery
47 Meadow Vales,
Sligo, Ireland.
Ref: LSUK/2031/8161/06
Batch: R3/A312-59

We are pleased to announce to you the draw of the IRISH LOTTERY
PROGRAMME online Sweepstakes International Program held on 11 January 2006.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with
Serial number 5368/05 drew the lucky number: 22 which subsequently won the
LOTTO PLUS 1 prize.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of 1,000,000.00
Euros (One Million Euros) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/06 of
Irish
Lottery.
All participants for the online version were selected randomly from the
World Wide Web through a computer draw system and extracted from
over100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed
online. 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 1,000,000.00 Euros would be released to you by any of our
payment offices in Europe(UK).

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:

Agent Karl Paul
Email: karlpaul@myway.com

That way your Winnings Certificate and all other relevant
documents/paperwork can be prepared for you. Note that all prize funds
must be claimed not later than One month. After this date all funds will be
returned to the LOTTERY TREASURY as unclaimed. In order to avoid
unnecessary delays and complications, please endeavor to quote your
Reference
Number(LSUK/2031/8161/05) and Batch Number (R3/A312-59) in every
correspondence with your agent. Furthermore, should there be any change
in your address, do inform your claims agent as soon as possible.

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted
toYou 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.

Good luck from me and members of staff of the IRISH LOTTERY.

Yours faithfully,
MR Karl Paul .

Online coordinator for IRISH LOTTERY SWEEPSTAKE PROGRAMME 2006


--

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam