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:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• 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.
  • henthoreau@yahoo.es (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Dr.Henry Thoreau <henthoreau@terra.es>
Reply-To: henthoreau@yahoo.es
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 12:56:11 +0200
Subject: Proposal


Dear Friend,

My name is Dr. Henry Thoreau from Belgium I have been in the employment of the Spanish National Lottery www.loteria.com for four years. I am soliciting your assistance for a swift transfer of €4,528,000.00 EUROS, should you be willing to assist me in this project we shall be sharing the funds 50-50.

Please be rest assured that this project is ready for execution and it is 100% legal and risk free as long as you follow my instructions as the originator. Just as a brief, the funds in question are actually from unclaimed lottery winnings payment, putting my influence within my company in place, I can legally establish you as the supposed winner and put up a claim of the above funds which would be sent to you promptly under the official presumption that you are the actual winner.

I would be generating an electronic ticket in your name to show that you actually played and won the above stated funds, all of the official matters would be taken care of by me internally, through our computing system.

Should you be willing to assist me in this transaction do respond to my private e-mail: henthoreau@yahoo.es, I would like us to put all the conversations through email for the both safety until the funds has been transfer to you.
This is a confidential deal.

Regards,

Dr. Henry Thoreau

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam