joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Power-ball Customer Service" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <powerballl2020@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2020 18:24:46 -0800
Subject: Power-ball Head-Quarters Usa

Powerball Head-Quarter
Marriott main street
Tallahassee 32301
FILE REF:17LL12-2020/MICS
BATCH:MC11/834/5PDH /EU2020.
WW.Powerball Winning Numbers History-Video Results
 
Dear Honorable Beneficiary
 
POWER BALL LOTTERY/ Microsoft Corporations Announced you as one of the 7 lucky winners of the Ongoing Microsoft Corporations lottery Award of the Year Held this month.All 7 winning email addresses were Randomly selected from a batch of 800,000,000 International emails each from Canada, Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as Part of our international promotions program which is Conducted annually, consequently, you have Been Approved for a total pay out of EIGHT Million TWO HUNDRED United States Dollars ($8.2 MILLION USD).
The draft was deposited to the bank waiting when you will Come for it so that the money can be transfer to you via Wire transfer, therefore, you are to fill this gap And send it To me so I will submit it to the bank for transfer.
 
Your full Name
Your Address
Home/Cell Phone
Your Occupation
Your Identity
Country
Zip code
 
You are advise to send the above information today to enable me submit them To the bank
This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a Conglomerate of some multinational companies as part of Their social responsibility to the citizens in the Communities where they have operational base.Further More your details (e-mail address) falls within our Branch Office here in USA, as indicated in your play Coupon and Your prize of (USD$8.2M). will be released to you from This main branch office of Microsoft Corporations USA.We wish to informed you that your Fund has been Approved and insured in your name as well as ready for Delivery.
These are your winning identification numbers.
 
Ticket number�679-568-9228
Serial number�37016
Lucky number 15-21-22-27-47-7
Ref number�MSCB4900
 
To begin your lottery claims, Please contact our P.B.L Microsoft  Corporations Lottery Co-ordinator as follows,
Name:John Griffn E-mail  powerballl2020@gmail.com
You are to send the completed verification form below to The co-ordinator whose email address is given above So that you will be advised on what to do
To get your prize money.
 
NOTE:
In order to avoid unnecessary delays and Complications, please remember to quote your reference And batch numbers in all correspondences
With us, Furthermore, should there be any change of Address, please do inform our Co-ordinator as soon As possible.
An original copy of your lucky winning ticket and your Deposit certificate will be sent to you by Lottery  Administrative Remittance Operation.
Congratulations once more!!

Anti-fraud resources: