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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:
- ",000,000" (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)
- "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.
- euwining@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "EURO MILLION" <info@lotto.eu>
Reply-To: eurowinings@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2022 20:34:56 +0000
Subject: REF/EU/9470X12/2022/CWS
Dear Award Recipient,
We officially Announce your email won a consolation cash prize of (£3,000,000.00) Three Million Great British Pounds Sterling's ($4,268,100.00) From The NEW European Union (EU) EURO MILLION Sweepstakes Program.
Our Organization is Aware lotteries Programs have been severely Abused on the internet to the extent it is very difficult for Genuine winners to identify what is Real from What is Fake, The new European Union (EU) EURO MILLION sweepstakes Program is permitted by law and dully conform with the Standard Anti-Fraud policy existing between EURO MILLION and the European union Government common institutions.
We request you fill out the requested data and also email it back to us for processing; Contact Ms. Asher Allison with Your Details Name: Occupation: Phone Number: Mailing Address: Sex: Age: Country: Contact Email: euwining@gmail.com
Congratulations and best wishes on your winnings!.
Ms. Asher Allison.
Information Officer
http://www.euro-millions.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
