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:
  • "claims office" (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 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.
  • +447045729970 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: rasjack@mchsi.com (UK NATIONAL LOTTERY 2008)
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:13:17 +0000
Subject: RE:AWARD FINAL NOTIFICATION

We are pleased to inform you again about our MID-YEAR
LOTTERY BONANZA price won by you a week ago.You have been approved to claim a
total sum of�750,000(Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds Sterlings)
Equivalent
1,609,426.20 USD
REF: XYL/26510460037/07,
Batch 24/00319/006/IPD.
All participants for the online version were selected randomly from the
Your e-mail address attached to e-ticket number: 03- 15 -19-24-28-34(with
bonus ball 17)drew a prize of �750,000 per winner. This lucky draw came first
in the 2nd Category of the Sweepstake CONTACT OUR CLAIMS OFFICE FOR CLAIMS
(LOTTERY WINNINGS)
via below Email:

Contact Person: Thomas Chess
Email: transfermanager-uk@live.com
Phone: +44 704-572-9970
with the Following
NAME:
ADDRESS:
AMOUNT WON:
EMAIL:
COUNTRY:
PHONE NUMBER
AGE:
OCCUPATION:

Congratulations in advance.
Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Carolyna Anderson.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam