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:
  • "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.
  • claimsofficer_coleadams@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "BRITISH ROYAL LOTTERY" <britishroyalottery_2006@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 12:56:03 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION!!

 

                              
   GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED!!!

   REGISTERED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT
                        (Registration Z720633X).
                                        
British Royal Lottery Headquaters
The Marina Offices
St.Peters Yacht Basin
Newcastle NE6 1HX
England.
 
***Notification Desk***
Ref: BTL/441TI/02
Batch: 17/211/0374

WINNING NOTIFICATION
We happily announce to you the draw (#101) of the BRITISH ROYAL LOTTERY held on January15th, 2006.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:
 
    41 67  08 11  22 21  55 
 

Which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Pound Sterling) in cash credited to file BRL/7723118308/28.
This is from a total cash prize of £2,000,000,00 shared amongst the first four (4) lucky winners in this category. 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 bianually.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our U.K booklet representative office in U.K as indicated in your play coupon.In view of this, your £500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Pound Sterling) would be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe. Our 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 winnings 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 fill and submit the claims processing form to:
 
Mr. Cole Adams
Claims agent, British Royal Lottery

Email:claimsofficer_coleadams@yahoo.co.uk
 
Claims processing form
 
FULL NAMES OF BENEFICIARY:
CONTACT ADDRESS:
CITY/STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
SEX:
AGE:
MARITAL STATUS:
TEL NO:
NEXT OF KIN:
OCCUPATION:
ANNUAL INCOME:
AMOUNT WON:
REFERENCE NO:
BATCH NO:
LUCKY NO:
TICKET NO:
SERIAL NO:
LOTTERY DATE:
WINNING EMAIL ADDRESS:
 
Yours faithfully,
SIR GARY HAMILTON

Online coordinator for BRITISH ROYAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program

 
CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is intended only for the use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and prohibited from unauthorized disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Copyright © 1994-2005 The British Royal Lottery.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam