419 scam: "Lucky Winner" <office@default.domain> Lucky Winner Alert

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "foreign service manager" (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 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.
- +34631509888 (Spain, prepaid mobile phone)
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.
- adm.unionexcel_segurossl@aol.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Lucky Winner" <office@default.domain>
Reply-To: ayudarluc@aol.com
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2018 01:08:38 +0100
Subject: Lucky Winner Alert

International Lotto Promotion Commission AVDA. ROSARIO DIAZ 23, PLANTA 4, P=
UERTA B 28288 MADRID - SPAIN ATTENTION:STAKE WINNER. CLAIM FILE NUMBER:EG/0=
084/5170024 BATCH NUMBER:100000488 We are pleased to inform you today the r=
elease of SPANISH SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM held on this fir=
st quarter of 2018 fiscal year. Your email attached to ticket number 002-77=
-888428-045-1334 drew the luck numbers 09-13-17-29-33-41 that consequently =
won the lottery on the 3rd category. You have been allocated a lump sum pay=
of $1,816,900.00 (One Million, Eight Hundred And Sixten Thousand,Nine Hund=
ered United States Dollars Only). This is from a total cash prize of $25,75=
0,966.00 (Twenty five million, Seven hundred and fifty thousand, nine hundr=
ed and sixty six united states dollars only) shared among international win=
ners in this third quarter promotion. Your fund is now deposited with a fin=
ance firm insured in you fovour. All participants were selected through a c=
omputer ballot system drawn from 25,000.000 email address from Europe Ameri=
ca Africa and Asia as part of our international promotion program that we c=
onduct quarterly yearly. To begin this claim, contact your claim agent ATTN=
:OSCAR GARCIA GONZALEZ, Foreign Service Manager UNION EXCEL SECURITIES S A =
on Tel:+34 631 509 888 Email:adm.unionexcel_segurossl@aol.com for processin=
g and remittance of your money to a designated account of your choice. Note=
that your claim and batch number are the key to your fund, keep it confide=
ntial until your claim has been processed andVfund remitted to your account=
as this is part of our protocol to avoid double claiming or unwarranted ta=
king of advantage of this program by participants. Remember all prize money=
must be claimed not later than 21 working days from the date of receipt of=
your reply, after this date all funds will be returned to the Ministerio D=
e Economia Y Hacienda as unclaimed. In order to avoid unnecessary delay and=
complications, please remember to quote your Reference and Batch numbers i=
n every of your correspondence with your agent. Congratulation" Yours Since=
rely, Ms Anna Aguirre Director

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam