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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "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:
- 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.
- bt_claimsdept@hotmail.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: BT COMPANY <bt_claimsdept@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 13 May 2011 06:27:37 +0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU HAVE WON
--
BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS
PLC (BT-UK)81 NEW GATE STREET
LONDON
EC1A 7AJ
WINNING NOTIFICATION FROM BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLC LONDON
ATTN: DEAR WINNER WE THE (BT-UK) STAFF MEMBERS IS PROUD TO
CONGRATULATE YOU FOR BEING ONE AMONG THE(7) SUCCESS DIFFERENT PEOPLES FROM
DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
SELECTED FOR THE SUM OF (500,000.00GBP) STERLING FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND
GREAT BRITAIN POUNDS WHICH WE DONATED FROM OUR COMPANY TO ALLEVIATE POVERTY
ALL OVER THE WORLD AS (2011) 30TH ANNIVERSARY AWARD PROGRAM PROMOTIONS. BE
INFORMED THAT THIS AWARD WAS CONDUCTED OVER THE INTERNET WITH OUR
AUTOMATED EMAIL SELECTING MACHINE AND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WAS ONE AMONG THE
SEVEN DIFFERENT EMAILS EMERGED AS THE LUCKY EMAIL ADDRESSES THAT WAS
SELECTED.YOU HAVE BEEN DECLARED THE PROUD WINNER OF (500,000.00GBP).ON HOW
TO RECEIVE YOUR AWARD WINNING MONEY FROM (BT-UK) CONTACT OUR CLAIMS AGENTS
DR.DAVID BROWN WITH THE BELOW INFORMATION'S AND CONTACT.
FULL NAMES:=================================
AGE:========================================
SEX:========================================
CONTACT PHONE NUMBER:=======================
COUNTRY:====================================
CITY:=======================================
OCCUPATION:=================================
ANY COPY OF YOUR ID:========================
AND SEND IT TO HIM VIA
DR: DAVID BROWN
EMAIL: bt_claimsdept@hotmail.co.uk
THIS IS TO MAKE YOUR CLAIMS TOTALLY LEGAL AND ALSO TO ENABLE YOUR CLAIMS
MANAGER RELEASE THE FUND TO YOU AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME.
THE (BT-UK) STAFF MEMBERS CONGRATULATES YOU ONCE AGAIN ON YOUR SUCCESS.
THANKS AND REGARDS
DR: DAVID BROWN
ONLINE CO-COORDINATOR
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Anti-fraud resources:
