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:
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• 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.
  • +447024023929 (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.
  • ngerry@graffiti.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Cindy Brett" <cindybrett@ptmc.net>
Reply-To: cindybrett@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2006 23:20:47 -0400
Subject: Congratulations!

REF NO :AAY333714264511
BATCH NO :14/111/AYE
DEAR WINNER
WINNING NOTIFICATION
We gladly announce to you the draw of the WELFARE
LOTTERY,online International program held on the, 15TH of
SEPTEMBER, 2006.Your e-mail
address attached to ticket number: 034-1416-4612-750 with
Serial number 53-68-05 drew the lucky numbers:
00-48-20-23-44-77, which subsequently
won you the lottery in category A. You have therefore been
approved to claim a total sum of US$20,000,000,00 (Twenty
million united states
dollars) in cash credited to file REF NO :AAY333714264511.
This is from a total cash prize of US$100,000,000.00(one
hundred million united states dollars) shared amongst the
FIVE (5 ) lucky winners in this category.

All participants for the online version were selected
randomly from World Wide email balotting through computer
draw system and extracted from over 100,000
unions,associations, and corporate bodies that are listed
online. This promotion takes place Annually. In view of
this, your US$20,000,000.00 (twenty million united states
dollars) shall be released
to you by your claims agent.To begin your claim, please
contact your claims agent for due processing, details of
your claims agent is stated below:

MR. NICK GERRY
Financial Investment Limited,Uk
TELEPHONE:+447024023929
FAX:+447092807619
EMAIL: ngerry@graffiti.net



You must contact FINANCIAL INVESTMENT LIMITED not later than
14(FOURTEEN) banking days upon receipt of this notification.
After this
date, all funds will be returned as unclaimed. All
correspondences to MR. NICK GERRY, either by fax or email,
should have this EMAIL sent
along with it and also, your FULL ADDRESS, YOUR COUNTRY OF
RESIDENCE and your EMAIL ADDRESS to which this email is
sent. you are advised to keep your winning confidential till
your claim is processed and your money remitted to you.

NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, please remember to quote your reference and
batch numbers in every one of your
correspondences with FINANCIAL INVESTMENT LIMITED.
Furthermore, should therebe any change of your address, do
inform your claims agent as soon as possible.

Congratulations from all our staff and we hope with part of
your prize, you will participate in our end of year high
stakes US$2 billion International Lottery.

Sincerely,
Cindy Brett
THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
WELFARE LOTTERY

N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the
winners will result to disqualification. Please do not reply
to this mail. Contact
your claims agent

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam