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:
  • "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 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.
  • +447045706796 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: HANDBELLS LOTTERY <hbl54646@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 9 May 2007 09:12:52 +0000
Subject: HBL-Winning Notice !!!



THE HANDBELLS LOTTERYP O BOX 5141Liverpool, P38 6QRUNITED KINGDOM(Customer Services)REF : UK/5141-I/12BATCH: Q45/05/2007HBL

DEAR WINNER

We happily announce to you the draw (#7464) of the HANDBELLS LOTTERY,online Sweepstakes International program held on 0th May 2007 Youre-mail address attached to ticket number:56475600545 005 with Serialnumber 5368/13 drew the lucky numbers:06-12-19-20-38-39 (bonus no.57),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 £250,000.00 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds Sterling) in cash credited to file No: HBL/0192635373/LN.This is from a total cash prize of £1,000,000.00 shared amongst the (4) lucky international winners inthis category.

All participants for the online version were selected randomly fromWorld Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted fromover 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listedonline.

All winning must be claimed not later than 14 working days from thisnotification, After this time all unclaimed funds will be retured toEuropean Union Treasury as unclaimed. Please note in order to avoidunnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote yourreference number in all correspondence. Be advice to keep your winninginformation confidential until your claims has been processed and yourprize remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol and measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program.

To begin your claim, please contact your claims agent:

Mr. Adams MartinsOfficial Email:handbellsdesk07@yahoo.co.ukTel:+44 70457 06796

He will brief you on steps to be taken for due processing andremittance of your prize money.

Note below your winning details:-

Ticket Nº: 56475600545 005Serial Nº: 5368/13Lucky Nº: 06-12-19-20-38-39 bonus no.#57File REF Nº: HBL/0192635373/LNBATCH Nº: 2007WCLG-06

Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being partof our promotions program.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Rosie CourtOnline coordinator for THE HANDBELLS LOTTERY Sweepstakes InternationalProgram.

N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the Winners willresult to disqualification.

NOTE: Do not reply this mail. You are to contact your claims officerimmediately. In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications,please remember to quote your reference number in every one of yourcorrespondences
_________________________________________________________________
Try Live.com: where your online world comes together - with news, sports, weather, and much more.
http://www.live.com/getstarted

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam