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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
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.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
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.
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "insurance fee " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "consignment " (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)
- "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- 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.
- wallacerice1@rocketmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Shell Email Promo" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <wallace.rice@i12.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:00:33 -0000
Subject: SHELL WINNER 2009 !!!
SHELL EMAIL AWARDS PROMO.
Internet Promotion.
REF #: 73284294SA
BATCH #: UK-0385-SHI
TICKET #: 4278-8845-284
This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of One Million Two Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (USD$1,200,000.00) for the month of December, 2009 Prize promotion which is organized by SHELL PETROLEUM COMPANY.
Among the millions that subscribed to various websites with their emails, only Six people are selected yearly to benefit from this promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners.
NOTE: The only fees you have to pay is the courier company fee which is USD$200.00. Contact them as soon as possible to make arrangement on how to effect the delivery of your Winnings
Contact: Mr Wallace Rice
Email: wallacerice1@rocketmail.com
ONLINE PROCESSING FORM
FULL NAME:
DELIVERY ADDRESS:
PHONE NUMBER:
FAX NUMBER(IF ANY):
COUNTRY:
OCCUPATION:
SEX:
AGE:
REFERENCE NUMBER:
TICKET:
BATCH:
Insurance Fee & Shipment charge of USD$200 (Must be paid before consignment dispatch)
All funds must be claimed no later than 5 days from date of Draw Notification.
Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited.
N.B Courier fees can not be deducted as it is non negotiable and not deductible.
Please ignore this email if you are a previous winner or have recieved this email from the previous promo.
CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN
We strongly advise that you keep your winning information very confidential as our security policy demands to avoid double claims/impersonation and unwarranted abuse of this program by some individuals.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Ron Van Dem Berg
President SHELL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY (SPDC)
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Anti-fraud resources:
