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")
• 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.
  • shawn-wayne@excite.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Jennifer Spears" <jennifer.spears2@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 07:25:33 +0000
Subject: You are a Winner!

                                                                                                         

The National Lottery
#7 Portland Avenue,
PE1 3JZ, Peterborough
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
WINNING NOTIFICATION:
Ref: UK/9420X/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369

 

Dear Winner,

We happily announce to you the draw (#1026) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, International program held on Wednesday 13th December 2006.

which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 5 plus bonus.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of GBP800,000 (Eight hundred thousand Pounds sterlings) in cash credited to file RPC/2343.

This is from a total cash prize of  GBP1,690,601 (One Million Six Hundred and ninty thounsand, six hundred and one Pounds Sterlings.) shared amongst the lucky winners in this category i.e Match 5 plus bonus.

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 anually.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe.
In  view of this, your GBP800,000 (Eight hundred thousand Pounds sterlings) 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 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.

To file for your claim, please contact our claims agent:

Overseas Claims Unit
United Kingdom Lottery Fiduciary
Mr. Shawn Wayne
Email: shawn-wayne@excite.com

Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the
release of your funds as soon as you contact him. You may wish to establish
contact via e-mail with the particulars presented above citing the batch
and reference numbers to this letter.

Our winners are assured of the utmost standards of confidentiality, and
press anonymity until the end of proceedings, and beyond where they so
desire. Be further advised to maintain the strictest level of
confidentiality until the end of proceedings to circumvent problems
associated with fraudulent claims. This is part of our precautionary
measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.

Goodluck from me and members of staff of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.

Yours sincerely,

 

Mrs. Jennifer Spears

Online co-ordinator for UK NATIONAL
LOTTERY,

 

			An Eynsham mother scooped a Lotto jackpot fortune of GBP2,372,694 on Saturday 4th November, thanks to her dedicated grandparents.

---

Get free, personalized commercial-free online radio with MSN Radio powered by Pandora

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam