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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "20 craven park, harlesden" (address often used in lottery scams)
• 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.
  • +447011127821 (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.
  • terry.mcclaren@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: microsoftpromos03@comcast.net
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:02:31 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS:YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS EMERGED AS A WINNER IN THIS
LOTTERY PROMO!!!

Microsoft Award Team
20 Craven Park, Harlesden
London NW10
United Kingdom.
Ref: BTD/968/05
Batch: 409978E



Dear Winner,

WINNING NOTIFICATION

The prestigious Micrsoft and aol has set out and sucessfully organised a Sweepstakes marking the new year 2007 anniversary we rolled out over £5,000.000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds) for our end of year Anniversary Draws. Participants for the draws were randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of web hosts which we enjoy their patronage.

The selection was made through a computer draw system attaching personalised email addresses to ticket numbers.

Your email address as indicated was drawn and attached to ticket number 008795727498 with serial numbers BTD/9080648302/06 and drew the lucky numbers 14-21-25-39-40-47(20) which subsequently won you £500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds) as one of the 10 jackpot winners in this draw. You have therefore won the entire winning sum of £500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds).

Please be informed by this winning notification,to file your claims,you are to make contact with your designated agent who shall by duty guide you through the process to facilitate the release of your prize.To file for your claim Please Contact your fiduciary agent

Mr Terry McClaren
Microsoft Promotion Award Team
Email: terry.mcclaren@gmail.com
Phone:+44-701-112-7821
+44-702-401-7125

You are advised to contact your fiduciary agent with the following details to avoid unnecessary delays and complications:

Your Full Names
Country
Ticket Numbers
Batch Number
Serial Number
Lucky Numbers

Thank you for being part of this promotional award program.

Our special thanks and gratitude to Bill Gates and his associates.We wish you the
best of luck as you spend your good fortune.

Sincerely,
Dr. Bryan McDonald
Microsoft Promotion Team

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam