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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",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.
  • +447045711680 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Elizabeth Walter" <mblueways@excite.com>
Reply-To: markrester1000@aol.com
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:39:01 -0500 (EST)
Subject: ATTENTION


CHARITIES LOTTERY PROMOTIONSHeadquarter,Regional Centre Charities Lottery, Furness Gate, Furness Business Park,Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. LA14 2PEUnited KingdomREF NO: CLP/ 24-FB-426253 BATCH: 42/450002/CLP PRIZE AND AWARD NOTIFICATION We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today of winners of the MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO WINNINGS PROGRAMS held on Wednesday, January 16th, 2008. Your company or your personal e-mail address, is attached to Ticket Number 644-701-836-872, with serial number 64483-72 drew the lucky Winning Numbers 06-14-17-28-30-41, and consequently won the lottery in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of £420,000.00 Pounds in cash credited to file REF NO: CLP/ 24-FB-426253 . This is from total prize money of £10,500,000.00 Pounds shared among the Twenty five (25) international winners in this category. To claim your winning prize, you must first contact the claims department by email or phone for processing and
remittance of your prize money to you. The claims officer contact email is: Prize Processing OfficerMr. Mark ForresterCHARITIES LOTTERY PROMOTIONSUnited Kingdom Email:markrester1000@aol.comTel: +44 704 571 1680NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in all correspondences with this office. Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform us as soon as possible. Congratulations again from all our staff for being part of our promotions program. Sincerely, Mrs.Elizabeth WalterLottery Co-ordinatorCHARITIES LOTTERY PROMOTIONS

_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam