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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "hundred thousand united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• 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.
  • shawstakers_claimsdept@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "shawstakers sa" <shawstakerssa6@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2006 11:34:56 +0200
Subject: Cash Prize Award Notification.

FROM THE DESK OF THE PROMOTION MANAGER
SHAWSTAKERS LOTTERY, SOUTH AFRICA.

Dear Amarjit Singh,

We are happy to inform you that you have won a cash prize of
$900.000.00(Nine hundred thousand United States Dollars in the SHAWSTAKERS
LOTTERY Promotional draw announced today 28th July of 2006.

Winners were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 5,500,000
email addresses of individuals from Africa, America, Asia, Australia,
Canada, Europe, Middle East, and New Zealand as part of our electronic
business Promotions Program. You qualified for the draw as a result of
visiting SHAWSTAKERS LOTTERY ORGANISATION e-business websites on the
Internet.

A ticket number 100-309-7482, with serial number 111 410-887 was attached to
your email address which drew the lucky numbers 1 10 29 37 45 49 and
consequently won in the second category.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You are to contact the director of SHAWSTAKERS LOTTERY claims department
with the information below to arrange for your payout,

Mr. Paul Shelton
Email:shawstakers_claimsdept@yahoo.com
Tel : 27-83-990-3569


Ensure that you contact the director of claims department not later than 14
working days from the day you receive this notification message for due
processing and remittance of your prize.

Finally, please make sure you quote your ticket and serial number when
contacting the claims department for easy reference.

Sincerely,

MRS MAGRET POWELL
THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
SA LOTTERY SOUTH AFRICA.

_________________________________________________________________
See their smiles, hear their laughter with Windows Live Messenger!
http://messenger.live.com

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam