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:
  • "claim 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!
• 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.
  • adammre@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: "vivan salife" <vivian_salife212@msn.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 01:46:56 +0000
Subject: WINNING NOTIFICATION

FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMO CO-ORDINATOR
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION/PRIZE
AWARD DEPARTMENT
HAVANA LOTTERY COMPANY, THE NETHERLANDS
ALFONSTRAAT
B56,1002 BS AMSTERDAM,
THE NETHERLANDS.
Winning numbers: 37-13-43-85-67-11
Email ticket number: FL754/22/76
Lotto code number: FL09622SP
The file Ref number: FL/04/736207152/SP
AWARD NOTIFICATION - FINAL NOTICE:
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today,
25th November 2005,of winners of the HAVANA PROMO LOTTERY, THE
EUROPE/INTERNATIONAL
PROGRAM held on 20th october, 2005.
Your email address is attached to ticket number
0234-0148-1790- 459 with serial number 5073-11 drew the
lucky numbers 3-11-44-37-10- 43, and consequently won the lottery in
the 3rd category.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay
out of US$1,500,000.00 in cash credited to file REF: FL/04/736207152/SP
This is from total prize money of US$25,500,000.00 shared among the
seventeen international winners in this category. All participants were
selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 25,000 names from
Australia, New Zealand, America, Europe,
North America, Middle East and Asia as part of International Promotions
Program which is conducted
annually,From 160 million people.
CONGRATULATIONS
Due to the mix up of
some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award strictly from
public notice until your claim has been processed and your money
remitted to your account.
This is part of our security protocol to avoid double
claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this program.
We hope with a part of your prize you will participate in our
end of year high stakes US$1.3 billion international lottery.
Remember, all prize money must be claimed before the end of two weeks(
14days)
after receipt of this final notice. After this date, all funds will be
returned as unclaimed.
NOTE:Our European agent Mrs Rita vaughan will
immediatelly commence the process and zoning of your fund release from
our payment offices as soon as you contact her.
In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications you are required to
fill the
details below for the processing and zoning of your fund release,
please remember to quote and your Reference and Batch numbers in every
one of your correspondences with your contact agent Mrs Rita Vaughan
Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform your
claim agent as soon as possible.
Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part
of our promotions program.
Contact promo co-ordinator MR ADAM MORE.on email
(adammre@yahoo.com)
yours sincerely
Promo co-ordinator,
The Havana Lotto company


--

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam