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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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million pounds" (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!
Fraud email example:
From: "Toyota Motor Corp" <expressmail.uk@mail.com>
Reply-To: tmcorpofficial19@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2018 00:36:43 -0300
Subject: FROM THE OFFICE OF MRS. ANDREY
Dear Lottery Winner,
Congratulations you have won £ 3 million Pounds and a Brand New Toyota Highlander Jeep,
International programs held today in London Uk. The selection process was carried out through
random selection in our computerized email selection system(ess) from a database of over 250,000
email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world. This Toyota car Lottery is approved by
the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by the International Association of Gaming
Regulators(IAGR).To begin the processing of your prize do send the below information.
Claims Requirements:
1. Name in full-----------------------
2. Address----------------------------
3. Sex--------------------------------
4. Age--------------------------------
5. Occupation-------------------------
6. Phone--------------------------
7. Present Country-------------------
If you do not contact your claims agent within 7 working days of this notification, your winnings
would be revoked. Winners are advised to keep their winning details/information confidential from
the public to avoid fraudulent claim (IMPORTANT) pending the delivery or claim by Winner.
*Winner under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.
*Staff of the Toyota Company world wide is not to partake in this Car Promotional Lottery.
Congratulations Once Again!
Regards.
Mrs. Andrey Byers
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Anti-fraud resources:
