joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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 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:
  
  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 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.
  • dr_judsonpaul_bnl@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY" <britishnationallottery1@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 12:06:18 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION

BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY
The Lottery Company
PO Box 200
Harrogate HG1 2YR
Ref: BNL/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
Fax 4487013058111

WINNING NOTIFICATION


We happily announce to you the draw (#1017) of the BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY,
online Sweepstakes International program held on Wednesday 21 September
2005.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545188 with Serial
number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 02-23-33-35-40-42(bonus no.),which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 5 plus bonus.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £157,888{One
hundred and fifty seven thousand eight hundred and eighty eight pound
sterling} in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03. This is from a total
cash prize of £947,328 shared amongst the first twenty-one (6) lucky winners
in this category i.e Match 5 plus bonus.
All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World
Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000
unions, associations and corporate bodies that are listed online.This
promotion takes place weekly.
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet
representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon.

In view of this,you have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
£157,888{One hundred and fifty seven thousand eight hundred and eighty eight
pound sterling}.This sum will be released to you by any of our payment
offices in Europe.
Our European agents will immediately commence the process to facilitate the
release of your funds as soon as you contact them.
For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information
confidential until your claims is processed and your money remitted to you
in whatever manner you deem fit.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned. To file for your claims
contact the judiciary agent:

To file for your claims, please contact our fiduciary agent in charge of
your winnings.
Judiciary Agent: Dr JUDSON PAUL
EMAIL: dr_judsonpaul_bnl@yahoo.co.uk
TELLEPHONE:+ +44-704-01099.

For further clarification/verification of your claims, Please call on any of
our official numbers as stated in notification e-mail.
Goodluck from me and members of staff of the BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY.

Yours faithfully,
Richard K. Lloyd.
Online coordinator for BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY

Sweepstakes International Program.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam