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:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Alex Brown." <nallot@msn.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: apexfinser@aol.com
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 14:16:17 +0200
Subject: Dear Lucky Winner,

NATIONAL LOTTERY INC
FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD DEPT

Dear Lucky Winner,

We are pleased to inform you of the results of the just concluded annual final draws of the NATIONAL HIGH-STAKE INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY PROGRAM. The online Cyber Lottery Email draws was conducted by a random selection of email addresses from an exclusive list of over 800,000 E-mail addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. However, no tickets were sold but all email addresses were assigned to different ticket numbers for representation and privacy.

After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address emerged as one of the lucky winners in the first category with the following data:

Ref Number: NALOT/85782/06
Batch Number: 001/06/INC
Ticket Number: 488-85847-951

You are therefore to receive a total cash payout prize of USD$1,500,000.00 (ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) Your prize award has been insured with your e-mail address and will be transferred to you as soon as you get in contact with your claims agent.

To begin the process of claiming your prize winnings you are advised to contact our licensed and accredited claims agent for first category winners with the information below:

MICHAEL RICHARDS
FOREIGN SERVICES MANAGER
APEX FINANCE SERVICES
Email: apexfinser@aol.com

NOTE: National Lottery Inc is approved and Licensed by The International Association of Lottery and Gaming Regulators (IALGR). Remember to quote the following information in all correspondence with your claims agent;

Amount Won:
Ref Number:.
Batch Number:
Ticket.Number:
Your Full Names:
Current Address:
Phone/Fax Numbers:

You are advised to keep all lottery information away from the general public especially your reference, batch and ticket numbers. This is important as a case of double claims will not be entertained.

Congratulations and thank you for been part of our lottery promotional programme.

Sincerely,
Alex Brown.
(Overseas Coordinator)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam