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:
  • "headquater" (this email uses bad English)
  • "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.
  • +447045793703 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
  • +448709748321 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Euro Millions National Lottery <harryjohnson7844@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:32:53 -0400
Subject: The National Lottery



The National LotteryP.O.Box 17,Kempsford GL7 4WZLondon.UNITED KINGDOM(Customer Services) WINNING NUMBER: 04, 05,19,39,41 STAR NUMBER: 08, 09 Concern: Recipient,This letter acknowledges the receipt of your requested data. Congratulations once again on behalf of the UK National lottery and the EUROPEAN EURO- MILLIONS PROMO BOARD , we hope that your winnings will be put into good use for community, educational and business development. On Behalf of the Screening Committee of UK National lottery and the EUROPEAN EURO- MILLIONS PROMO BOARD, I wish to formally announce to you that you have successfully passed the Email Screening and Verification Matching Test conducted for all online winners in your Category. Hence you are therefore cleared, your cheque has been issued in the name of ALLIED BANK PLC. on behalf of you. Your winning cheque, issued by the headquaters of the UK National lottery and the EUROPEAN EURO- MILLIONS PROMO BOARD had been recieved, you are therefore required to go ahead and activate an account with the bank so we can deposit the cheque into the account on your behalf from where it will be wired to you via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). It is the policy of the lottery board that all funds must be transfered to its recipients through wire transfer ONLY. You are to immediately contact the bank transfer officer of ALLIED BANK PLC. On your contact with the bank officer, you are to provide him the following.Your full names, Winning security pin code as stated above,Phone Numbers,Residential address. Kindly contact the transfer officer with the information below. Allied Bank Wire ServicesTransfer Director: Sheikh Jalees Ahmedalliedwireservice@administrativos.comPHONE: +44 704 579 3703 +44 704 579 5892FAX: +44 870 974 8321
Have it in mind that your won prize cannot be deducted from, this is because the total amount has been insured to the real value. This is in accordance with section 13(1)(n) of the national gambling act as adopted in 1993 and amended on 3RD July 1996 by the constitutional assembly, this is to protect winners and to avoid misappropriation of funds. You are now priviledged to know your winning security pin code "07554UKEUad" do note that it is very important that your pin code should be kept confidential to avoid double contact for claims which may result to disqualification of your winnings.Its is imperative that you use your security pin code {07554UKEUad} as the subject of any correspondence with the Bank to ensure they respond in a timely manner. I will require a concise update on proceedings with the bank as soon as you are in contact with them. Regards,Harry Johnson.
_________________________________________________________________
Test your Star IQ
http://club.live.com/red_carpet_reveal.aspx?icid=redcarpet_HMTAGMAR

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam