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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:
- 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:
- "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)
- "mrsjaniecruze@w.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- 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 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.
- +447045737852 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "FROM THE COORDINATOR" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrsjaniecruze@w.cn>
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:13:12 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS FROM DR FABANIO(PIDN:EULO389XW)
You have every reason to be happy, because you are the
selected winner of the first ever EURO MILLION LOTTERY
COMMISSION MAIL Xplosive! promotion.
Your email address has won you a prize money of 500,000.00
EURO. Do note that this was done randomly, and you emerged as one of
the first ever winners, congrats ! Do not be confused you are
the rightfull winner.
further information on how to collect your prize money,
Do send an email containing your;
Full name................
Country..................
Contact Address..........
Telephone Number.........
Fax Number---------------
Occupation...............
Age.....................
Mode Payment------------(Check Delivery Via Courier or Bank Transfer)
NAME: Mrs Janie Cruze
EMAIL: mrsjaniecruze@w.cn
OR call ; +44 7045 737 852
NOTE: Make sure you add your P.I.D.N (personal
identification number) to your reply email. (You can find
your personal identification number at the subject
of this email notification )
***Due to possible mix up of some numbers and email contacts, we ask that you keep this award strictly out of public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by some participants of this program.***
The LOTTO XPLOSIVES! team wishes to congratulate you.
LUIS FABANIO (DR)
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Anti-fraud resources:
