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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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.
  • winnersupbal@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: <winnersupbal@aim.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:32:27 -1000
Subject: CONTACT FRANCIS SMITH


AWARD PRIZE:

FROM:BANK GIRO LOTERIJ INTERNATIONAL
PROMOTION PRIZE AWARD DEPT.
REF: DRF/933221523/542
BATCH: 21/532/8YPK/FR

Dear Winner,

Following official publication of results of the E-mail electronic
online Sweepstakes organized by the Bank giro loterij corporation, the

Slidecircuir award and the Heineken prizes in conjunction with the
foundation for the promotion of software products, (F.P.S.), held on
the
27th of Feb, 2008, in Paris France, wherein your
electrononic
email address emerged as one of the online winning emails in the 1st
category and therefore attracted a cash award of 500,000 Euros (Five
Hundred Thousand Euros only),
We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to
contact the processing office immediately upon receipt of this message

for more information concerning the verification processing and
eventual payment of the above prize to you.
It is important to note that your award information was released today

the 04th of March,2008 with the following particulars attached to it.

(I) Award numbers: TL 22/23149
(ii) Email ticket number: TK390/12/67
(iii) BATCH NUMBER: 06/809/FR
(iv) The file REFERENCE NUMBER:: KG/1960/30/16

Please contact the claim agents within 5 working days to facilitate
the release of your prize, You are required to mention the above
particulars of your award in every correspondence addressed to the
processing agents.

CONTACT NAME: MR.FRANCIS SMITH.
CITY/ COUNTRY: PARIS, FRANCE.
FREE SERVICE NUMBER: /FAX NUMBER: +33-826-678-931

EMAIL:winnersupbal@aim.com
The Bank giro loterij Awards is sponsored by a consortium of software
promotion companies.
The Intel Group, Toshiba, Dell Computers, Microsoft and other
international companies.
The Bank giro loterij internet draw is held periodically and is so
organized to encourage the use of the internet and promote computer
literacy worldwide.
We are proud to say that over 20 Million Euro are won annually in more
than 150 countries worldwide.
Please note, in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications,
remember to quote your reference number and batch number in all
correspondence.
Once again on behalf of all our staff, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Sincerely,
MRS. Mariam De Boer
Promotions Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam