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")
  • "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 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.
  • gamingboard121@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: gamingboard121@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:19:45 -0500
Subject: YOUR EMAIL WAS SELLECTED (CLAIM 500,000:00 POUNDS)

Dear winner,

This is to inform you of the release of our 2008 E-MAIL LOTTERY in
which e-mail addresses are picked randomly by our
software powered by the internet, eighteen email addresses were
selected and your email where lucky to be among them.
making you one of winners of the sum of £500,000.00(G.B.P)pounds
which is equivalent to($917,956.00 USD).
In this category you are to contact our financial controller with the
information below for clearance.

FINANCIAL CONTROLLER: Mr Moris Pedro
EMAIL:gamingboard121@gmail.com

In respect to claim,you are to forward the following details to enable
him clair your file for immediate payment:
1.Full Names__________ 2.Address_____________
3.Age___________ 3.Sex_____________
4.Marital Status_______ 5.Occupation_________
6.Phone Numbers_______ 7.Country____________

After filling the above form, when you are sending the mail to the
fiduciary agent whose email address is above make sure you open a new
compose page else your mail will not be recieved.

Sincerely,
MR:WILLAMS JOHNSON
FREE LOTTO ONLINE DIRECTOR
UNITED KINGDOM,
UK SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY BOARD.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam