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:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
• 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.
  • +447045776593 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • briansmith_ausvisalottery@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • iansmith_ausvisalottery@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: "BARISTER BRIAN" <briansmith14ausvisa@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:27:07 -0700
Subject: AUSTRALIAN LOTTERY NOTIFICATION


*14 FRATON ROAD
FULHAM, AUSTRALIA
Ref: EASWL/941OYI/02/SHYN
Batch: 12/25/003419*
** * WINNING NOTIFICATION:*
** * *
*DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.*
***OFFICE OF THE CO-ORDINATOR,
AUSTRALIAN VISA LOTTERY,
THROHGH THE AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION.*
*Date: 14/7/2008**
Winning no:KB8701/LPRC
Dear Winner, *
* CONGRATULATIONS!! *
*We are delighted to inform you of your winning on the 14TH OF JULY 2008
from the Australian International visa Lottery Programme(www.national
visaservice.com) which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners
using their e-mail addresses. Your name was attached to ticket number;
575061725 8056490902 serial number 6741137002 This batch draws the lucky
numbers as follows: 4-13-31-37-42 bonus number 31,which consequently won the
lottery in the second category. All participants were selected through a
computer balloting system drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses
from Canada, Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Africa
as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually.
This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some
multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the
citizens in the communities where they have operational base and in
affiliation with the Abbey National Bank Plc London, you are entitled with a
huge lump of $750,000.00 U.S dollars which will help ease your traveling
expenses.
*
**
*HOW TO FILE YOUR CLAIM : Simply contact our Fiducial Agent, Barr. Brian
Smith at; briansmith_ausvisalottery@yahoo.com<http://us.mc365.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?toiansmith_ausvisalottery@yahoo.com>to
file for your claim,
*
*Please quote your Date of draw, Reference Number, Batch Number and Winning
Number, which can be found on the top-left corner of this message. Also, you
should give in your telephone number to help locate your file easily. For
security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information
confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your visa has
been released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double
claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by
non-participant or unofficial personnel.
Note, all winnings MUST be claimed by the 25TH of JULY 2008; otherwise all
funds will be returned as unclaimed and eventually donated to charity.
*
*Congratulations once again on your winning!
DO NOT REPLY THIS EMAIL SIMPLY CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT AT;
briansmith_ausvisalottery.com.OR CALL +447045776593.*
**
*Best Regards.
Mrs. S.Cathy Raymonds
**(For the co-ordinator)*
*+447045776843.*

**
****

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam