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:
  • "i will advice you " (this email uses bad English)
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
• 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: Howard Wellington <howard.wellington@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:21:48 +0100 (BST)
Subject: INFORMATION



The U.K. National Lottery
12 Bridge Street,
Staines Middlesex TW18 4TP
United Kingdom.

Customer Service/Claims Department

Ref: LSUK/2031/8161/05
Batch: R3/A312-59

ATTN: Aren Rich,

I acknowledge the receipt of your mail. I want to inform you that in line with the UK National Lottery regulation (UK Lottery Acts 249(n) of 1972), winners are to pay only courier charges for the delivery of their parcel. No Taxes. Once this is done, their winning parcel is immediately delivered to them within the stipuated time for delivery.

I want you to realise that the UK National Lottery is unlike every other e-lottery so you have no cause to have any doubt. I will advice you contact our affiliate courier company as soon as possible so that you can follow the necessary procedures for the quick delivery of your winnings. I assure you that at the end of it, you will be joyous.

Regards,
Mr. Howard Wellington
Claims Department
The UKNL Foundation

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. Please be warned !!!

© Copyright 1994-2007 The U.K. National Lottery Inc.








---------------------------------
Yahoo! Answers - Get better answers from someone who knows. Tryit now.

---------------------------------
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