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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
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.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
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")
- "claims 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:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- 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.
- lotto02nacional@aim.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "lisa garcia" <liza01garcia@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:11:36 +0100
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION
Spanish National Lottery
Calle Castillaña 12.
E-28019 Madrid-Spain
RE: BONUS WINNING NOTIFICATION:
Dear Winner,
We happily announce to you the draw of Spanish National
online Lottery organized for email users all over the World
as part of our international promotional program to
encourage e-lottery, your e-mail address, attached to
e-ticket number56475600545,with serial Number 5368/02 and lucky
number 02.03.06.07.18.19 consequently won in The Second
Category.You have therefore been approved to receive the Sum
of €800,000.00.
To file in for your claims Contact your Claims, prove your claim agent with
the following informations:
Full name:
Nationality:
Age:
Address:
Phone/Fax No:
serial No:
Ticket No:
Lucky No:
===================================
Claims Agent:Mr.Luis Lopez
Email:lotto02nacional@aim.com
====================================
CONGRATULATIONS,
Lisa Garcia
Spanish Online Loteria
Anti-fraud resources:
