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:
  • ",000,000" (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)
  • "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!

Fraud email example:

From: BARRY WOODS <gcs_customercareonline@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 08:40:49 +0100 (BST)
Subject: RESPONSE TO EMAIL


Dear Ilsa Nagel

Regards to your email, i just want you to know that in life Oppurtunity comes but Ones and your winning is a good Omen to you so you should be very happy to be among the winners of the Uk National Lottery Board in this category.

Note that All participants for the online version of the lottery draw were selected randomly from the World Wide Web through a computer draw system and extracted from over 1,000,000 unions, associations and corporate bodies that are listed online and each email address was attatched to a ticket number. Your email address attatched to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 was selected which automatically makes you one of our lucky winners in the draw.

My Candid advice is for you to choose an option in which you want us to deliver your winnings to you in your home adress because your winning cheque just have One week to stay here with us if not dispatched to you. Note that you should not be afraid of your social security status because your winning certificate will show that you obtained this funds legally frrom the Uk Lottery Board. Follow my advice and you will never regret from it or if not convinced enough you can write a letter of disclaimer to the Lottery Board stating that you forfeit your winnings. I await your swift response.

Regards,
Mr Barry Woods

NB: This is a Life time Opportunity, grab it.



---------------------------------
Copy addresses and emails from any email account to Yahoo! Mail - quick, easy and free. Do it now...

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam