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")
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million dollars" (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)
  • "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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)
  • ",500,000" (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)
  • "00,000.00" (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 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.
  • +2348085904955 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • infosweepsstakex@i12.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Sweeps Stake Lottery <sweepssj77@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 00:03:11 +0100
Subject: You Have Just Won (US$3,500,000.00) Prize, Congratulation!






Sweeps
Stake Lottery

An Affiliate of International Lottery organization, Africa.

Batch: 8056490902/188

REF: ASL/26510460037/03










Winning Ticket Number:






644


795


434


65


B


44














RE: WINNING NOTIFICATION LETTER.



We happily announce to you the draw of the
Sweeps Stake Lottery International program held on the October
1st, 2007 in
African Region. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 644 79543465 B44
which subsequently won you the lottery in the 3rd category. You have therefore
been approved to claim a total sum of (US$3,500,000.00) Three Million Five
Hundred Thousand United States Dollars.



This is from a total cash prize of US$35
Million Dollars, shared among the first (10) hundred lucky winners in this
category. Please note that your lucky winning number fell within our West
African booklet representative office in Nigeria as indicated in your play coupon. In view
of this, your (US$3,500,000.00) Three Million Five Hundred United States
Dollars would be released to you by our security firm in Nigeria. Our African fiduciary agent will
immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as
soon as you contact him.



All participants were selected randomly
from World Wide Web site through computer draw system and extracted from over
100,000 individuals and companies. This promotion takes place annually before
the play coupon begins.



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 wish to claim your prize.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements. Please be
warned.



To file for your claim, please contact our
fiduciary agent:



Mr. Mathew Ralph, fiduciary claim agent.

Email: infosweepsstakex@i12.com

Tel: +2348085904955



To avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, you are to contact

Mr. Mathew Ralph with followings details below:



1. Full Name...............................

2.
Country..................................

3. Contact Address.....................

4. Telephone Number................. Mobile..................................

5. Fax Number............................

5. Marital Status.........................

6. Occupation.............................

7. Date of birth......................

8. Sex.................................



Thank you for being part of our
promotional International lottery program.



DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL CONTACT
YOUR CLAIM AGENT DIRECTLY.



Best Regards,



Mrs. Jennifer Smith

Zonal Coordinator.


_________________________________________________________________
Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces. It's easy!
http://spaces.live.com/spacesapi.aspx?wx_action=create&wx_url=/friends.aspx&mkt=en-us

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam