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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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.
  • +447024016642 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • ics_courier001@sify.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: ics_courier001@sify.com
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:00:48 +1300
Subject: YOU HAVE WON =?ISO-8859-1?B?ozk1Niw0MjBHQlA=?= ($1.9MILLION USD)

YOU HAVE WON £956,420GBP ($1.9MILLION USD)




UK NATIONAL LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS
22 TAN FIELD ROAD,
CROYDON,LONDON.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
(24hours)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY36

Dear Winner,

We are pleased to inform you today of the result of the winners of the
NATIONAL LOTTERY ONLINE PROMO PROGRAMME, held on Thursday 24th of
January,2008.Email addresses were selected
randomly from official worldwide Company's,internet data web through
online email addressessearch engine with the aid of Google
prominent search,which consequently won you the online sweepstakes in
the2nd category,in four parts in Europe region.

Lucky umbers :4-33-34-38-39-49(bonus no.23).You have therefore been
approved for alump sum pay of £956,420 (Nine fifty-six thousandfour
hundred and twenty pounds)in cash credited to file
IPL/4249859609/WP1.

All participants of this online promotion programme were selected
randomly from numerous World Wide Web sites through computer draw
system and extracted from close to 125,000 unions.Your assigned claims
agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release
of your funds as soon as you contact him via electronic mail(email).

Right now i know you are now the most happiest person on earth.We say
congratulationonce again.

You are to contact our AFFILIATE COURIER COMPANY for the delivery of
your winning certificate and winning cheque of £956,420.GBP.

MR HARRISON BLAIR
INTERNATIONAL COURIER SYSTEMS
EMAIL:ics_courier001@sify.com
TEL:+44 702 4016 642

VERIFICATION FORM TO AUTHENTICATE YOUR EMAIL

FULL NAME....................................
FULL DELIVERY ADDRESS............
SEX:.................................................
AGE....................... .........................
OCCUPATION.................................
TEL.........FAX.........(If any)............
COUNTRY.......................................
E-MAIL...........................................
WINNING NUMBER........................
Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program.
Thank you for being part of our online promotional lottery program.

Yours Truly,
Richard K Lloyd

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam