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 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:
  • "vat (5%)" (VAT rate in the UK is 17.5%, check the math)
• 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!
• Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.

Fraud email example:

From: TNT Courier Services <tntukcourierdelivery@live.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:51:25 +0000
Subject: COURIER COST/MODE OF PAYMENT (ORDER NUMBER:TNT-R562725)













ORDER NUMBER:TNT-R562725

ATTENTION: Linda Henderson,

This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of The UK National Lottery.
The original copy of this certificate from the British Government stating that the money was obtained legally through The UK National Lottery and will be sent to you or your bank as soon as you meet with any of the options selected and your winnings will be couriered or transferred to you immediately.

You can now begin the final step of the claims process, which is the transferring of your cash prize to you either in Cash/Cheque. With regards to this, there are three options open to you, you are required to select the most convenient of the three.

The options, together with their associated conditionsare presented below: OPTIONS:Courier of your winning draft to you via any of thischannel listed below: Option:1TNT EXPRESS DELIVERY (Overnight)Mailing...............................£100.50Insurance.............................£500.00Vat (5%)..............................£30.00TOTAL.................................£630.50==OR==$1,261 Option:2TNT PREMIUM SERVICE(2working days)Mailing...............................£80.00Insurance.............................£450.00Vat (5%)..............................£25.00 TOTAL.................................£555.00==OR==$1,110
Option:3TNT REGULAR SERVICE(4working days)Mailing ..............................£60.00Insurance.............................£400.00 Vat (5%)..............................£20.00TOTAL.................................£480.50==OR==$960

MODE OF PAYMENT The charges are a little bit high because of the Hardcover insurance Policy we have undertaken in case of loss,Damage or Theft of your highly sensitive document and funds. We assume all responsibilities in case of any eventualities and we don't deliver on cash on delivery(C.O.D) because we don't accept cash. You are to make the payment for any of the option you have choosen through Western Union Money Transfer so as to enable us speedy up the process of delivery of your parcel to you. You are to locate the western union agent nearest to you and make the payment in Favour of our Accounts Officer Mr.Kevin Gill with the Details Below:

RECEIVERS INFORMATIONS

NAME OF RECEIVER:Kevin Gill
ADDRESS OF RECEIVER:20-22 Eastbury Road, London,E6 6LP

You are to send the following information via email as they appear on the western union transfer slip: 1.Name and address of sender2.Amount sent3.Control number(MTCN) You are to send a copy of the evidence of payment to me for confirmation. A Confirmatory Email shall be sent to you Immediately we Confirm your Payment.
As soon as we receive confirmation and evidence of payment of the above charges, we shall dispatch your winnings to you immediately. The date and time of departure and expected date of delivery will be sent to you. It will take twenty-four hours to get your parcel delivered to you. You will be required to sign for the parcel and to do this, you will need either your international passport as identification or your driver's license. All orders not delivered within Ten (10) working days from this communication will be returned. Please ensure that you confirm your delivery address.We are glad to be of service to you.

Kindly Note that you are to inform us of the option you have choosen while we await your Evidence of Payment.

Sincerely,
Mr.Terry Hopkins
_________________________________________________________________
Get Hotmail on your mobile, text MSN to 63463!
http://mobile.uk.msn.com/pc/mail.aspx

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam