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!

Fraud email example:

From: "promotion coordinator" <nationallotto_6@msn.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 13:34:35 +0000
Subject: YOUR WINNING NOTIFICATION

The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)

Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369


WINNING NOTIFICATION:

We happily announce to you the draw of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, online
Sweepstakes International program held on 22nd of July 2005. Your e-mail
address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number
5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: 03-14-41-48-49-10-04 (JACKPOT) which
subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £684,008.00 (six
hundred and eighty-four thousand and eight British pounds sterling) in cash
credited to file KTU/9023118308/03. This is from a total cash prize of
£15,949,880 shared amongst the several lucky winners in this category.

Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from a
pool of over 45,000 Names and E-Mail addresses around the world as part of
our international promotions programme conducted annually to encourage
prospective overseas entries.
Your prize award has been insured in your name and is ready for claims. For
the processing of your winning and remittance to your designated bank
account contact our European agent who will immediately commence the release
of your funds as soon as you contact her. You may wish to establish contact
via e-mail with the particulars presented below citing the batch and
reference numbers to this letter between the hours of 10.30am - 10.30pm on
Mondays through Saturdays.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:
MRS ELIZABETH PARKER
Official Email: lizaparker@z6.com

You are to fill out the claims form below and forward it to the
fiduciary/claims agent through the details above.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Faithfully,
LUCIA COCHRAN (MRS.)
Online coordinator for THE NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Programme.


LOTTERY PAYMENT CLAIMS FORM
(To be completed by lottery winners only)

Ticket
Numbers:................................................................

Names:..............................................................................

Address:..............................................................................

Country:..............................................................................

Telephone Numbers:..........................................................

Fax (if
any):..........................................................................

Email
Address:...................................................................

Age:..............................................................................

Occupation:..........................................................................

Marital
Status:.....................................................................

I.............................hereby declare that the above information are
true and binding on me. If at any time it is discovered that I have given
false information, I will forfeit my rights to my winnings.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam