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:
  • "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.
  • agent_cliff_johnson@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: lotterydept52@mchsi.com (UK NATIONAL LOTTERY)
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:32:08 +0000
Subject: COGRATULATIONS


We happily announce to you the results draw of the UK NATIONAL
LOTTERY, Online Sweepstakes International program held 2008.
You have been approved to claim a total sum of{750,000}pounds.
REF: XYL/26510460037/08,
Batch 24/00319/006/IPD.
All participants for the online version were selected
randomly from the World Wide Web through a computer draw system and
extracted from over 100,000 unions,
associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online.
Your e-mail address attached to a-ticket number: 03- 15-19-24-28-34
(with bonus ball17)drew a prize of{750,000}pounds per winner.
This lucky draw came first in the 2nd Category of the Sweepstake.
Contact Our Claim Agent Mr Cliff Johnson
via below EMAIL:agent_cliff_johnson@yahoo.com
with the Following
NAME:
ADDRESS:
AMOUNT WON:
COUNTRY:
PHONE NUMBER
AGE
OCCUPATION:

Congratulations in advance.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam