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:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "claims 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.
  • johnwright_02@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: UNITED NATIONS LOTTERY GAME <johnwright_02@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2006 18:49:44 -0700
Subject: Incredible!!! You Have Been Certified A Winner

CONTROLLER The United Nations Lottery Headquatres 270 John Downey Drive New Britain CT 06051 LONDON UNITED KINGDOM Ref: UN/9420X2/68 Batch: 074/05/ZY369 DATE:05/09/2006                                            (Customer Services)                                                                                 NOTIFICATION OF WINNINGS: Dear Sir/Madam, We happily announce to you the draw (#942) of the o­nline Sweepstakes International program held o­n 14th of August, 2006. Your e-mail address attached to TICKET NUMBER: 1416-4612-750 with SERIAL NUMBER:3187-17 drew the LUCKY DREW NUMBERS:31-17-8-28-55 (bonus no.25), which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 5 plus bonus.   You have therefore been approved to claim total sum of £2,500,000.00(Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pound Sterling) in cash credited to your file .This is from a total cash prize of £250,000,000.00 shared amongst the o­ne Hundred (100) lucky winners in this categoryi.e Match 5 plus bonus.   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 claim 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 claims agent ****************************************************************************************************** MR.JOHN WRIGHT Official Email:johnwright_02@yahoo.co.uk ****************************************************************************************************** Endeavour to contact him with the following informations: 1. Full Names 2. Contact Address 3. Telephone Number 4. Age 5. Sex 6. Nationality 7. Occupation 8. Winning information i,e ticket number, batch number, reference number, serial  number e.t.c. Congratulations from me and members of staff of THE UNITED NATIONS LOTTERY.   Yours faithfully, Brian Hunt(Mr).

--

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam