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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:
- The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "irish lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "fiduciary agent" (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:
- 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.
- mrsrosejohn2012@yahoo.co.uk (Yahoo, United Kingdom; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Gilberto Dinis Moreira Macedo <101101054@fade.up.pt>
Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2012 09:08:13 +0000
Subject: =?windows-1256?Q?CONGRATULATION_WINNING_NOTIFICATION!!!=FE___Contact_For_?=
=?windows-1256?Q?Your_Claims_Email:___mrsrosejohn2012@yahoo.co.uk_?=
We happily announce to you the draw (#1004) of the IRISH LOTTERY online Sweepstakes International program held on sunday, 12 Nov 2012. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:
Please Supply Your Details...
Email: (mrsrosejohn2012@yahoo.co.uk)
ndeavour to email her the informations below:
Please Supply Your Details
Title (Mr/Mrs/Ms/Dr):________________________________________ Name: _______________________
Postal Address:____________________________
State/Country: ______________________________
ZIP/Post Code:___________________________________
Telephone:____________________________________
Fax:________________________________
Email address:_____________________________________
Congratulations from me and members of staff of THE IRISH LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
MRS ROSE JOHN
Online coordinator for THE IRISH LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.
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This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
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Anti-fraud resources:
