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:
  • "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.
  • +447024039486 (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.
  • mcconell1954@yahoo.ie (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "IRISH NATIONAL LOTTERY" <mcconell324@yahoo.ie>
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 02:49:55 +0000
Subject: SUCCESS ALERT!!!


The Irish Lottery
P O Box 1010
11 G Lower Dorset Street,
Dublin 1, Ireland
(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
WINNING NOTIFICATION:
We happily announce to you the draw (#1004) of the IRISH LOTTERY online
Sweepstakes International program held on Sat 2nd Sep 2006 - 9.26pm. It
is
now available for claims and you are getting the final NOTIFICATION as
regards this.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:56475600545 188 with
Serial
number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 04, 11, 14, 17, 29, 31 , --
Bonus
01, which subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category i.e
match 5
plus bonus.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of 350,000.00
(Three
Hundred And Fifty Thousand Euros) in cash credited to file
KTU/9023118308/03, your winning ticket in this category i.e Match 6
plus
bonus.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 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 350,000.00 (Three Hundred And Fifty Thousand
Euros)
will be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe.
Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilit ate
th
e 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, contact our fiduciary agent:
MR McConell Simpson.
Email: mcconell1954@yahoo.ie
Tel: +44-702-403--9486
NOTE: Due to frequent calls on these telephone lines; calls may not go
through due to conjection. Please keep trying. We sincerely apologise
for
the inconviniences.
Endeavour to email/fax him your full names,winning numbers,email
address,residential contact address,company addres,telephone number and
fax numbers immediately.
Congratulations from me and members of staff of THE IRISH LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs Mary Griffin.
Online coordinator for THE IRISH LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam