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")
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash)
• 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: Ferdinand Wilson <agent_ferdinand.wilson@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 17:41:49 +0100 (BST)
Subject: File your claim.


Claims department
Australian lotto board
UK regional office

Attn: Kochmacher,

I am Mr. Ferdinand Wilson the fiduciary agent assigned to your case. I wish to congratulate you on your victory, you are a lucky person to have won prize.Winning No: FGNGB2701/LPRC

Your email address was amongest those chosen this quarter from our new java-based software that randomly selects email addresses from the web from which winners are selected. You are required to forward the following details to help facilitate the processing of your money and certificate which will warrant the release of your prize, all these informations are needed for issuing you the winning certificate.

1. Full names.
2. Phone number.
3. Fax number.
4. Occupation.
5. Sex.
6. Age.
7. Nationality.
8. Your residential address.

so after giving these details i will file your claim and forward to our head office at Australia to get approval of your payment but mean while as soon as the informations are gotten you will have to go for our payment form in which you will indicate how you want your payment which i will foward to the paying bank immediatly for your payment so what ever information we see in the payment form will be used in payment. We pay by courier company (diplomatic means) , Wire transfer and cashier cheque so one has to be indicated in the form as means of payment.

Mind that we shall issue you the certificate of win as soon as claims are processed with the informations you have to state so get back to me with the needed informations for your file.

congratulations once again

Mr. Ferdinand Wilson,
(Claims agent)
AUSTRALIAN LOTTO BOARD
U.K REGIONAL OFFICE


---------------------------------
Copy addresses and emails from any email account to Yahoo! Mail - quick, easy and free. Do it now...

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam