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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "money laundering" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
  • "vat (5%)" (VAT rate in the UK is 17.5%, check the math)
  • "affidavit " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• 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!
• Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.

Fraud email example:

From: Marlvin Revees <ukfrontier_post3units@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:36:05 +0100 (BST)
Subject: DELIVERY OPTIONS OF YOUR WINNING ITERMS


FRONTIER FORWARDING
SERVICES LTD.
Unit 11, Ashford Industrial Estate,
Shield Road, Ashford, Middx,
TW15 1AU, london.
United Kingdom.





Hello Winner,

Compliments of the day.

I just confirmed that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Department at the headquarters of the UK National Lottery.

All your winning documents which include your certificate and a covering document (Money Laundering protection and Letter of Affidavit for Claims) from the British government, stating that the money was obtained legally through the National Lotto will be sent to you as soon as you meet with any of the option selected.

You can now begin the final step of the claims process, which is the transferring of your cash prize to you. With regards to this, there are two options open to you, you are required to select the most convenient of the two and immediately get back to us for adequate instructions.

The options, together with their associated conditions are presented below:
Option 1:
Courier your winning cheque and documents to you via any of this channels listed below:



(48 hours Delivery)

Mailing.........................................£240.00
Insurance......................................£295.25
Vat (5%)....................................£38.00
Total...........................................£573.25..........$1,070.00(USD)


(72 hours Delivery)

Mailing.........................................£226.00
Insurance.....................................£270.00
Vat (5%)......................................£34.75
TOTAL.........................................£530 .75...........$990.00(USD)



(72 Hours Delivery)

Mailing.........................................£222.00
Insurance.....................................£268.00
Vat (5%)......................................£33.95
TOTAL.........................................£523.95.............$970.00(USD)






Post Office Mail (5 Working Days)

Mailing.........................................£170.00
Insurance.....................................£202.50
Vat (5%)......................................£24.00
TOTAL..........................................£397.50............$750.00(USD)


Option 2:

Direct Bank Transfer

The said amount £1.500,000( One Million Five hundred thousand, Pounds Sterling), will be wired to your bank account via swift bank transfer.

Condition: The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by our transferring bank, (i.e. £1,623.06) ($2,980.00 USD) of the cash being transferred will be paid upfront by you.

Note that your prize is protected by a hardcover insurance policy, which makes it impossible to deduct any amount from the money before it is being remitted to you. This means that the above charges cannot be deducted from the prize and hence must be provided by you before your prize is transferred to you. Moreover, you are required to send payment charges via western union money transfer, of what ever option you have chosen to our national account's officer, who is in charge of your cheque and winning documents.

Also, you are required to send to us as soon as possible, these few information below:

(1.) The delivery option which you've chosen.
(2.) Your bank details (if you have chosen option 2, bank transfer.)
(3.) Attach a scanned copy of either your driver's license, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document and send to us for identification and documentation purposes.

Having done this, you will be given proper guidelines on how delivery payments are made by winners.
Upon the confirmation of your payment by the verifications department of this company, your parcel shall be immediately cleared for delivery and shall be delivered to you in accordance with the conditions stated in the option chosen.

ALL WINNERS MUST NOTE THAT STRINGENT ADHERANCE TO THESE INSTRUCTIONS IS A VERY SALIENT PART OF THE CLAIMS PROCESS, AS A WINNER MAY BE DISQUALIFIED WITHOUT ANY FURTHER PRIOR NOTICE ON THESE GROUNDS.

Congratulations once again.

Mr. Marlvins Revees.
Frontier Forwarding Services Ltd

---------------------------------
Yahoo! Mail is the world's favourite email. Don't settle for less, sign up for your freeaccount today.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam