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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
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.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- 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.
- +447024068987 (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.
- acmad_rizki@sify.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "WORLD CUP 2010 LOTTERY" <acmad_rizki@sify.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2008 11:11:38 -0600
Subject: YOU ARE A LUCKY WINNER
WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010
Corporate Headquarters,
United Kingdom.
We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 27th September 2008 from the World Cup Organising Online Lottery programme South africa 2010.Your winning code:wcza/uk563-gt324/2010
You hereby have been approved a lump sum of £1,000,000.00 GBP, all participant were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses all over the World as part of our international promotions program which is conducted quarterly.
Kindly note that you will only be chosen to receive the award once, which means that subsequent yearly award will not get to you again. Take time and thought in spending the funds wisely on a project that will stand the test of time.
HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE,
Simply contact your fiduciary agent, Acmad Rizki at Email:acmad_rizki@sify.com
Tel: +44 702 406 8987
You are advised to contact your fiduciary agent with the following details to avoid unnecessary delays and complications.
Your Name (In Full):
Telephone Number:
Address:
Sex:
Age:
Occupation:
Country:
Winning Code:
On behalf of the Board kindly, accept our warmest congratulations.
Mrs. Carol Gabriel
(Online Announcer).
Anti-fraud resources:
