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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
• 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: "Linda Smith" <lindsmithonline1@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: markanthony@sonicexpress.biz
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2005 02:06:37 +0100
Subject: Urgent notice! (Please contact Mr. Anthony)

FANTASY 5
Online Agent
The National Lottery
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
Ref: UK/9420X2/600882994

Dear Sir/Madam,

LOTTERY WINNING NOTIFICATION

We are glad to announce to you the draw (#775) of the UK NATIONAL
LOTTERY,online International program.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 600882994 with Serial number
3185671 drew the lucky numbers:15-23-27-38-44-49(bonus no 34),and
subsequently won you the lottery in the 3rd category.You have therefore been
approved to claim a sum of £300,050
(Three Hundred Thousand and Fifty pounds sterling) in cash. Credited to file
kTU/9023118308/03.

All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World
Wide Web sites through a computer draw system. Emails owned by private and
corporate bodies were
extracted from over 70 sites ranging from regular email sites like yahoo,
hotmail to paid/registered email account sites. This new promotion takes
place bi-annually and is sponsored by some multinational software companies
as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the countries
where they have made huge sales.
Your lucky winning number falls within the Fantacy European representative
zone as indicated in your play coupon.You are advised to keep your winning
information private, until your claim is processed and your money remitted
to you. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming
and unwarranted abuse of this program.

To begin your claim, please contact our paying institution.Remember to quote
your full name(company or personal) and ticket number:

Mr.Mark Anthony
Manager,Protocol Department,
Sonic Express Depository Company,
77 High Road,Ilford, Essex, UNITED KINGDOM.
Email: markanthony@sonicexpress.biz

He will process and ensure the release of your won prize Money.
Note that all prize money not claimed within a specified time shall be
returned to our treasury as unclaimed. Also, you must be 16 or over to claim
your prize because we do not encourage youth gambling. Feel free to visit
the website:
http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/p/results/unclaimedPrizes.jsp

Congratulations from me and members of staff.

Yours faithfully,
Ms. Linda Smith
FANTASY 5
Online Agent

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam