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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +447045722823 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: IRISH GAMING LOTTERY BOARD <dr_marklambert0002@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <dr_marklamber@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 08:57:21 +0000
Subject: Your Email Won........Ref: IR/90020X2/07



National LotteryEURO MILLIONS PROMO/PRIZE DEPARMENTAbbey Street Lower, Dublin 1, Ireland(Customer Services)Ref: IR/90020X2/07Batch: 074/07/ZY569
WINNING NOTIFICATION:
Dear Winner(Ref: IR/90020X2/07),
CONFIRMATION LETTER FROM THE LOTTERY OFFICE!!!
I am writing to confirm the official owner of this email address. Areyou the owner of this lucky email address? If yes! then count yourself a Lucky person as we are pleased to notify you of the finalannouncement of the Irish National Lottery Online sweepstakes PromoProgramme held on the 3rd of October 2007 at exactly 8:26 pm LondonTime (GMT).You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of1,350,000 Euro.(One Million Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand Euro).
To claim your winning fund you are adviced to contact Dr Mark Lambertto obtain your Fund Release Verification Form, Otherwise known asPayment Processing Form.CONTACT DETAILS OF YOUR FIDUCIARY AGENT:AGENT:Dr Mark LambertEmail: dr_marklambet@yahoo.co.ukphone: +44 7045722823.
Yours Sincerely,Sir Ezikel SmithIrnl-Co-ordinator
_________________________________________________________________
News, entertainment and everything you care about at Live.com. Get it now!
http://www.live.com/getstarted.aspx

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam