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")
  • "foreign service manager" (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.
  • national_lotterycustomerservices@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "National Lottery UK." <c_w99210098291@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: national_lotterycustomerservices@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:04:17 -0500
Subject: YOUR WINNING NOTIFICATION.

The National Lottery P O Box 1510 Belfast, BT0 6LN UNITED KINGDOM (Customer Services) Ref: UK/9420X2/68 Batch: 074/05/ZY369                                                 AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION:   We happily announce to you the draw (#909) of the NATIONAL LOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program held on 20th of January 2007.Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:   which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e. match 6 plus bonus. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £1,500,000 (one million five hundred thousand great british pounds sterling) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.   This is from a total cash prize of £10,500,000 shared amongst the first seven (7) lucky winners 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 £1,500000 (one million five hundred thousand great britain pounds sterling) would be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe.Our European 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 claims 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, please contact our fiduciary Agent from Mondays-Fridays, within the hours of 8-16hrs GMT: Mr.Paul L.Smith FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER, Tel:44-704-010-6141 Fax:44-871-264-2078 E-mail:national_lotterycustomerservices@yahoo.co.uk   Good luck from me and members of staff of the NATIONAL LOTTERY. Remember, all winnings must be claimed not later than 12th of  February 2007. Please note, in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember to quote your reference number and batch number in all correspondence. Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible.   Once again congratulations. Yours faithfully, Mrs Caroline Wise Online coordinator for NATIONAL LOTTERY Sweepstakes International Program

---

Get FREE Web site and company branded e-mail from Microsoft Office Live

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam