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:
  • "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "transfer into your account" (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)
  • "into your nominated bank account" (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!

Fraud email example:

From: steve owen <steveowenukagent@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 01:04:35 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: RE: NEEDED INFORMATION/CALL ME ONCE YOU RETURN THIS CLAIMS FORM.


Attn: Berg,

I wish to congratulate you and your family for this great opportunity as a lucky winner, as the British Lottery department required in respect to access and confirmations on your file for the procedure of your winning fund to be transfer into your account there in your country, kindly forward to me all these details I'm putting in writing below to enable me move immediately to submit all your informations to the verification departments as they requested to enable us know the next step.

These are the requirements;

1). FULL NAME: ______________________________________________________________
2).NATIONALITY: ______________________________________________________________
3). DATE OF BIRTH ______________________________________________________________
4). SEX: ______________________________________________________________
5). MARITAL STATUS: _______________________________________________________________
6).CONTACT ADDRESS: ________________________________________________________________
7).TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS: ________________________________________________________________
8).OCCUPATION: ________________________________________________________________
9).WINNING E-MAIL ADDRESS:________________________________________________________
10).WINNING NUMBER:__________________________________________________________
11). TOTAL AMOUNT WON:______________________________________________________________
12) REFERENCE NUMBER:__________________________________________________________
13) BATCH NUMBER:__________________________________________________________
INSURANCE NO:____________________________________________________


As soon as I receive the above details, I will move immediately to the verification departments to submit all your informations as they requested for official documentation of your details which will enable the approval of your award winning certificate and other documents of which I will be sending to you as an attachments as soon as it’s out, also as soon as I submit your details, I will have access to make inquiry on your behalf base to know the guidelines and instruction you have to follow immediately to enable you receive your winning fund into your nominated bank account there in your country.

Remember due to the maximum time featured, you don’t need to waste time on claiming your winning fund, this is why you have to comply with instructions given to you to enable you receive your money as soon as possible.

Best Regards,


Mr.Steve Owen
Claim Agent


---------------------------------
Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell?
Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam