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:

• 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.
  • +447040113017 (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.
  • drgerraldmelviv@hotmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: "keith mcjames" <keithmcjames@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: obi_associates@myway.com
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 08:59:01 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION

Mr Keith Mcjames
FREE LOTTO PROMOTIONS
REF NUMBER: SLI/421/960/05
BATCH NUMBER: ST-688-SN13-05
www.freelotto.com

Dear Winner,

We are pleased to inform you that as a result of our recent
lottery draw held on the 4 of october 2005. Your e-mail
address attached to ticket number 27522465896-532 with
serial number 652-662 drew lucky numbers 05-09-17-24-26-38,
which consequently won in the 2nd category. You have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of
E1,500,000.00 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Euros
only)

Note that all participants in this lottery program have
been selected randomly through a computer ballot system
drawn from over 20,000 companies and 30,000,000 individual
email addresses from all search engines and websites. This
promotional program takes place every year, and is promoted
and sponsored by eminent personalities like the Sultan of
Brunei,
Bill Gates of Microsoft Inc and other corporate
organizations. This is to encourage the use of the Internet
and computers worldwide.

For security purpose and clarity, we advise that you keep
your winning information confidential until your claims
have been processed and your money remitted to you. This is
part of our security protocol to avoid double claims and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants. We
look forward to your active participation in our next year
US$50 Million slot.

You are requested to contact our Chief Financial Director
strictly by the email below:

Dr Gerrald Melviv
Chief Financial Director
E-mail drgerraldmelviv@hotmail.com
Telephone +447040113017
Fax +448703890419

This is to assist you with your winnings and subsequent
payments immediately. All winnings must be claimed not
later than one month after the date of this notice. Please
note, in order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, remember to quote your reference number and
batch numbers in all correspondence. Furthermore, should
there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon
as possible. Congratulations once more and thank you for
being part of our promotional program.

NOTE: YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED IF YOU ARE BELOW
18 YEARS OF AGE OR SEEN TO DOUBLE CLAIM THROUGH ANY OTHER
COORDINATOR.

Sincerely yours
Mr Keith Mcjames
(LOTTERY COORDINATOR)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam