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:

• 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:
  • "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:
  
  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.
  • claimsoffice1@lycos.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Teresa Connell" <teresa.connell@wallacestate.edu>
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:39:21 -0600
Subject: REF: LYC/UKB/3522 WINNING NOTIFICATION

LYCOS ONLINE LOTTERY
8th Floor,
1 Stephen Street,
London W1T 1AL, UK.

PIN NUMBER 21556770827633
WINNING NOTIFICATION
This is to inform you that you have been selected to receive the award sum of £500,000.00 (Five hundred Thousand pounds sterling) as charity donations/aid from the Lycos Online Lottery 2008. All beneficiaries email addresses were selected randomly from over 123,032 internet websites or a shop's cash invoice around your area in which you might have purchased something from through a computer ballot system.

You are advised to keep this notice confidential to avoid misappropriation of funds and unauthorized claims, cheating or fraud. Also keep your pin number from the reach of friends who already know about how funds are claimed from Lycos.

To claims your funds please contact our Claims Department at email claimsoffice1@lycos.co.uk with the requested information below.
Full names
Address
Phone number
Age
Sex
Marital status
Occupation

You are to forward all correspondence to our Claims Department(claimsoffice1@lycos.co.uk) for processing of funds release.

Congratulations from members and staff of Lycos Incorporated.

Announcer,
Teresa Connell,
Public Affairs & Protocols,
Lycos Online Lottery.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam