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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "claim 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.
  • eurogolds@netscape.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: joan van fritz <joanvanfritz08@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 13:22:27 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATION YOUR HAVE WON !!!.


FROM THE DESK OF AWARD DEPARTMENTGOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED LOTTERY REFERENCE NUMBER: 236/552/483/0161 BATCH NUMBER: 235/686/ 211 / 007
Dear Lucky Winner,
RE: UNIVERSAL LOTTERY PROMOTION PRIZE AWARDS WINNING NOTIFICATION!
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today,of winners of the Universal lotto Sweepstakes International Programs, your e-mail address attached to ticket number:ESLI/7/ 109/556/408 with Serial number: 50/CL/452 drawn from the lucky number: 302/298/333/541, and consequently won in the 1st category. You have therefore been approved for a huge sum of Eight Hundred And Seven Thousand, Euros Only (870,000.00 Euros). CONGRATULATION ! ! !
Your prize winning money of 870,000.00 euros has been deposited in the bank and insured with your e-mail address in your favor alone, we therefore ask you to keep your winning information confidential until your claims has been processed and your money remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 65,000 companies and individual email addresses from Europe, America, Asia, Australia, Caribbean, Africa and New Zeal-and as part of international program which we conduct once every year.
To begin your claim /processing of your prize winning, you are advised to contact our judicial agent through the information below:
EUROGOLDS FINANCE REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT:E-MAIL: eurogolds@netscape.net DIRECTOR: MR. GILL MAARTEN. For the processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated bank account of your choice.Please be aware that your paying bank will effect payment swiftly upon satisfactory report and verifications provided by our remittance department. Remember, if not claim for certain period it will returned as unclaimed to the office.
Note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in all correspondence.You are also advised to provide him with the under listed information as soon as possible:
1. Name in full2. Address3. Nationality4. Age5. Occupation6. Phone/Fax,
Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform your claim agent as soon as possible.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs.Joan Van FritzPublic Relation Officer.
_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE!
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam