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:
  • "million us 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.
  • +31614363493 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "QUADCRUISE AWARD DEPARTMENT" <quadcrujackpot@aol.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2007 12:37:50 +0900
Subject: QUADCRUISE AWARD DEPARTMENT

QUADCRUISE AWARD DEPARTMENT
WINNING EMAIL NOTIFICATION [FOR CATEGORY "A" WINNER ONLY].
COMPUTER BALLOT JACKPOT 'A' DRAW RESULT.

Dear Lucky Winner,
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Lottery Winners
International programs drawn 06/01/2007. Your E-mail address
attached to Ticket number 334/ 660078 with Serial number 05908 drew the
lucky numbers 9-43-97, which consequently won in the
1st category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of
$1,500,000.00USDollars. (One Million, Five Hundred
United States Dollars).

This is from a total cash prize of 15,000,000.00 US Dollars (Fifteen
Million US Dollars) shared amongst Ten International Lucky Winner in
Category A+ (PLUS).

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from
over 50,000 companies and 2,000,000 individual email addresses
From all over the world, as part of our international promotions program,
which we intend to conduct several times a year.

To file for your claim, please contact our /your processing agent
CONTACT:
**********************************************
Mr. Leonard Coleman
Email: leo2coleman@aol.co.uk
Tel: +31-614-363 493
Fax: +31-847-548-673
**********************************************
You are advice to provide him with the following information:
Names:
Telephone/Fax number:
Nationality:
Age:
Company (if any):
Winning reference and Batch numbers:

Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for being
part of our promotional program.

Yours truly,

Walter Jones
Promotion Manager.
THANK YOU AND CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam