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:
  • "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • ",000,000" (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.
  • marywolferson@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: lotto.result1@mchsi.com (Jennifer Hansen)
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 23:19:12 +0000
Subject: NOTICE OF SHELL GRANT AWARD...

Ref No: G8/EU/2222/07G

Dear Donation Beneficiary,

NOTICE OF GRANT AWARD

The Shell Foundation United Kingdom, is glad to notify you that you have been
chosen by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a cash
Grant/Donation .

To celebrate the 6th anniversary program, the Shell Foundation United Kingdom
in conjunction with other relevant bodies is giving out a yearly donation of £
20,000,000 GB Pounds (Twenty Million Great Britain Pounds Sterlings ) to 20
lucky recipients.

You were selected among the lucky recipients to receive the award sum of
£1000,000 GB Pounds ( One Million Great Britain Pounds Sterlings) as charity
donations/aid from the Shell Foundation United Kingdom in accordance with the
enabling act of Parliament.

You will be required to fill the form below and email it to our Finance Officer
below for documentation and processing of the remittance of your grant. After
contacting our office with the requested data, you will be given your donation
pin number, which you will use in collecting the funds.

Please endeavor to quote your Qualification numbers (G8-222-6747, EU-900-56) in
all correspondence.
===========================================
FULL NAMES:
ADDRESS:
COUNTRY:
SEX:
AGE:
MARITAL STATUS:
OCCUPATION:
E-MAIL ADDRESS:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
===========================================
SEND ALL YOUR CLAIMS AND INQUIRIES TO

Mrs. Mary Wolferson
Email: marywolferson@yahoo.co.uk

All information is strictly confidential and will only be used for the purpose
to which it is been requested.

Finally, all funds should be claimed by their respective beneficiaries, no
later than 21 days after notification.

Failure to do so will result to outright cancellation.
On behalf of the Board, kindly accept our warmest congratulations.

Regards.
Mrs. Jennifer Hansen.
Grants Co-ordinator

--

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam