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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million 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 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.
  • +34628552555 (Spain, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • bay-bank-spain@consultant.com

Fraud email example:

From: MIRCOSOFT WORD LOTTERY PROGRAM <m-soft-word-lottery-program@web.de>
Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 14:05:55 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!


MOTTO: FIGHTING POVERTY ROUND THE WORLD<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O:P></O:P>FROM: THE DESK OF THE E-MAIL PROMOTIONS MANAGER INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZEAWARD DEPARTMENT, MICROSOFT CORPORATION WORLD LOTTERYUNITED KINGDOM.61-70 Southampton Row,Bloomsbury London United Kingdom WC1B 4AR. REFERENCE NO: MSW-L/200-26937BATCH NO: (EuroMillions Ball number 34)(EuroMillions Ball number 48)(EuroMillions Ball number 25)(EuroMillions Ball number 17)(EuroMillions Lucky Star number 3)(EuroMillions Lucky Star number 2) ([Winning Numbers])(Lotto Ball number 4)(Lotto Ball number 22)(Lotto Ball number 9)(Lotto Ball number 24)(Lotto Ball number 30)(Lotto Ball number 41)(Lotto Bonus Ball number 20) ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATIONAWARD PRESENTATION CENTER: UNITED KINGDOM DEAR WINNER, <O:P></O:P>MICROSOFT COOPERATION MANAGEMENT WORLDWIDE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT YOU ARE A WINNER OF OUR ANNUAL MS-WORLD LOTTO LOTTERY CONDUCTED IN EUROPE BEING THE HOST OF THE EVENT FOR THIS PRESENT YEAR MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO WINNING PROGRAMS HELD ON 20th.sept 2006 CONGRATULATIONS!!!* <O:P></O:P>*YOUR PERSONAL E-MAIL ADDRESS OR COMPANY EMAIL WAS ATTACHED TO SEPTEMBER MSWLL. WITH SERIAL NUMBER S/N-00168 DREW THE LUCKY NUMBERS 887-13-865-37-10-83, AND CONSEQUENTLY WON IN THE FIRST LOTTERY CATEGORY. YOU HAVE THEREFORE BEEN APPROVED FOR LUMP SUM OF $ 1,000,000,00 (USD ONE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY) PAYABLE IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937 THIS IS FROM TOTAL PRIZE MONEY OF $ 25,000,000 USD, SHARED AMONG THE TWENTY-FIVE (25) LUCKY INTERNATIONAL WINNERS IN FIRST AND SECOND CATEGORY.<O:P></O:P> <O:P></O:P>ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE SELECTED FROM WORLDWIDE WEBSITES ESPECIALLY YAHOO MAIL THROUGH OUR MICROSOFT COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM DRAWN FROM 21,000 NAMES, 3,000 NAMES FROM EACH CONTINENT (CANADA, ASIA, AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATE, EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA AND OCEANIA, AS PART OF INTERNATIONAL "E-MAIL" PROMOTIONS PROGRAM, WHICH IS CONDUCTED ANNUALLY FOR OUR PROMINENT MS -WORLD USERS ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND TO ENCOURAGE THE USE OF INTERNET AND COMPUTERS WORLDWIDE. <O:P></O:P>YOUR FUNDS HAS BEEN INSURED WITH YOUR REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937 AND WILL BE READY FOR TRANSFER BY THE BAY BANK OF MADRID SPAIN . IT WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOU BY ONE OF OUR CLAIM AGENT IN CHARGE (MR. DAIVD BROWN). YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE USED IN ALL CORRESPONDENCE WITH YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER. PLEASE NOTE THAT, YOU ARE TO CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER VIA EMAIL AND PHONE AS WE ARE PROMOTING THE USE OF E-MAIL. ALSO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CALL HIM TO CONFIRM YOUR WINNINGS AND GOVERNMENT TAX PAYMENT THAT IS ALL, AS HE WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE NECESSARY DETAILS ON HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE.<O:P></O:P> <O:P></O:P>AS PART OF OUR SECURITY PROTOCOL YOU ARE TO QUOTE THIS SECURITY CODE MSW/FEB/XX06 TO YOUR CLAIMING AGENT. Bay Bank Madrid EspañaContact perosn: Mr.David BrownTel:0034-628-552-555 : Ext 001E-mail: bay-bank-spain@consultant.com [http://us.f510.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?DMid=6119_9263587_156077_423_84_0_69517_-1_0&amp;YY=90276&amp;y5beta=yes&amp;y5beta=yes&amp;inc=25&amp;order=down&amp;sort=date&amp;pos=0&amp;view=a&amp;head=b&amp;box=Draft]Telephone lines are open between the hours of <O:P></O:P>8:00am-19:30pm.Monday -Saturday ...Ext..001 REMEMBER, ALL PRIZE MONEY MUST BE CLAIMED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ALL FUNDS NOT CLAIMED ON OR BEFORE 25th OF jJAN WILL BE RETURNED AS UNCLAIMED AND DONATED TO CHARITY ORGANIZATION IN <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /><st1:place w:st="on">AFRICA</st1:place>.<O:P></O:P> <O:P></O:P>NOTE: IN ORDER TO AVOID MISTAKES, PLEASE REMEMBER TO QUOTE YOUR REFERENCE AND BATCH NUMBERS AND YOUR SECURITY CODE OF MSW/FEB/XX06 IN ALL CORRESPONDENCES WITH YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER. AT ONCE YOU WILL BE ASKED TO PROVIDE SOME DETAILS TO ENABLE THE OFFICE PROCEED WITH YOUR WINNING CERTIFICATE AND FILE KEEPING.<O:P></O:P

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam