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:

• 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.
  • eurconsulting@aim.com

Fraud email example:

From: eurconsult1@voila.fr
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 03:00:41 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: DO COMPLY WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS


We are indeed very delighted to inform you that you are one of the Five winners of this week selected draws.
In accordance with the world lottery ordnance, you are authorized as the official lottery prize winner to immediately file in for your claims upon receipt of this mail.
Your email ID was included among the 800,000 email addresses that were entered for category "A" with the following details:
Batch No: EL ML-00PN9.
REF NO: EL XY/559334.
TICKET NO: NL TN61102
SERIAL NO: KLZ TR760.
LUCKY NO: 5 9 11 29 33.
Note that Euro Millions will remit prize payout strictly to winners who officially file in for their prize claims. To begin your claim process, you are requested to complete the informations below and forward same to the program coordinator.
Mrs. Jacqueline Tricot
Email: eurconsulting@aim.com
Please complete the informations below:

FAMILY NAMES:
GIVEN NAMES:
RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS:
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:
PROFESSION
TELEPHONE:
MOBILE NR:
FAX NR:
BATCH NR: TICKET NR:
REF NR: SERIAL NR:
LUCKY NR:
The above completed informations must be forwarded strictly to the program coordinator:
Mrs. Jacqueline Tricot
Email: eurconsulting@aim.com
Note that your won prize has a value of Two Million Euros for each of the five winners.
Thanks for being part of our programme and once again "Congratulation".
Dr. Bernard Walsh

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam