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:

• 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")
• 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.
  • +31633893248 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • swissshellagency@netscape.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: CRUDE OIL SHELL LOTTO <swissshelllotto@netscape.net>
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 21:21:19 +0200
Subject: CALL BACK IMMEDIATELY

CRUDE OIL, SHELL -LOTTO WINNER The Crude Oil Shell -Lotto Lottery (Customer Services) Ref: UK/5530X2/79 Batch: 006/06/ZY289 WINNING NOTIFICATION: We happily announce to you the draw (#2006) of the CRUDE OIL SHELL -LOTTO NATIONAL LOTTERY ,Online Crude Oil International program held on July 4, 2006 . Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 8875600545 178 with Serial number 4463/01 drew the lucky numbers: 553-17-87-33-36-88 (bonus no.13), which subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category i.e match 5. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of €2.000.000. (TWO MILLION EUROS) in cash credited to file KTU/3323118779/08.This is from a total cash prize of €38,000,000 shared amongst the (19) lucky winners in this category i.e Match 5 plus bonus of the crude oil shell lotto. All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place yearly. Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your of €2,000.000 (TWO MILLIONS EUROS) would be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe. Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned. To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent: ALL CLAIM MUST BE BEFORE 25TH OF July 2006 DR Bright Phillip EMAIL: swissshellagency@netscape.net Tel:+31633893248 from me and members of staff of the CRUDE OIL SHELL-LOTTO Yours faithfully, Ruth K. Lloyd. Online coordinator for CRUDE OIL SHELL-LOTTO LOTTERY Crude Oil International Program. CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is intended only for the use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and prohibited from unauthorized disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. Copyright © 1994-2006 Crude Oil Shell-Lotto Lottery Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guidelines

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam