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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "foreign service manager" (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)
  • "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)
  • "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!

Fraud email example:

From: "debora_price05 Gazeta.pl" <debora_price05@gazeta.pl>
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:58:55 +0200
Subject: DEAR INTERNET USER


DEAR INTERNET USER

Dear Winner,

FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS / PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
CHESTSHIRE LOTTO PROMO.
HEADQUARTERS: UNITED KINGDOM .

REF: OYL/25041238013/02
BATCH: 24/00319/IPD

ATTENTION: RE/ AWARD NOTIFICATION/FINAL NOTICE

Compliment of the season. We are pleased to inform you of the announcement
today, 30th June 2008 of Winners of the CHEST SHIRE LOTTO PROMO LOTTERY,
UNITED KINGDOM./ INTERNATIONAL, PROGRAMS held on, 29th May 2008 .

Your e-mail address is attached to ticket number: 023-0148-790-459, with
serial number 5073-11 drew the lucky numbers 43-11-44-37-10-43, which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.

It is our pleasure to inform you that you have emerged as a Category "B"
winner of the CHEST SHIRE LOTTO PROMO, UNITED KINGDOM .

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of Five Million, Five
Hundred Thousand-America Dollars You have therefore been approved for lump
sum pay Out of US$5,500.000.00 Million in cash credited to file REF
NO.OYL/25041238013/02. This is from total prize Money Of US$80,400,000.00
shared among the seventeen International winners in this category. Please
note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet
representative office in Europe as contained in your file.

In view of this, the Certified Bank Check of your Five Million, Five Hundred
Thousand-America Dollars ($US5, 500.000.00) would be released to you by our
security firm in London , United Kingdom . Our European agent will
immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as
soon as you contact him.

As a category "B" winner, all participants for the free online lotto version
were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through the computer draw
system and extracted from over 100,000 names / companies from Africa,

Australia, New Zealand, America, Europe, North America and Asia as Part of
International Promotions Program, which is Conducted Bi-Annually. After the
computer ballot of our International Promotions Program, only first
seventeen- (17) lucky winners emerged in this category.

This lottery program was organized by our group of philanthropist promoted
and sponsored by Mr. Bill Gates of Microsoft Inc, eminent personalities like
the Sultan of Brunei, Multi Choice and other corporate Organizations. This
lottery program was organized to improve the use of computer software's and
for the benefit of every Microsoft user.

Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, and for security reasons, you
are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims
is being processed and your Certified Bank Cheque is received by you.

This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements. So be
warned.

To file for your claim, please contact our Category "B" fiduciary agent who
is your claims agent:

MR. FRANK BOND.
FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER,
Email:frank_bond@live.com <Email%3Afrank_bond@live.com>

For due processing and the delivery of your won prize to be sent to you
through Certified Bank Check. Please do also send to your claim Agent the
following information below:

YOUR FULL NAME:
YOUR AGE:
YOUR SEX:
YOUR OCCUPATION:
YOUR TITLE OR POSITION:
YOUR BATCH NUMBER:
YOUR REFERENCE NUMBER:
YOUR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER:
YOUR FAX NUMBER:
YOUR FULL ADDRESS FOR THE POSTAGE OF YOUR WON PRIZE:

However, it should be noted that all won prize must be claimed not later
than 24th of July 2008. Any claim not made before this date will be returned
back to the CHESTSHIRE LOTTO PROMO, as unclaimed won prize.

NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and Complications, please
remember to quote your Reference and batch numbers in your correspondences
with your claim agent.

Furthermore, should there be any Change of your address, do inform our
fiduciary agent who is your claims agent as soon as possible.

This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or
unscrupulous acts by participants Of This program.

We hope with a part of your prize, you will Participate in our mid year high
stakes US$1.3Billion International Lottery.

Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our
promotions program.

Sincerely,

DEBORAH PRICE
The Promotions Manager,
CHESTSHIRE LOTTO PROMO LOTTERY , UNITED KINGDOM

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam