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:
  • "cost of mailing your draft" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. )
  • "payment for the courier" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. )
  • "deadline" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "vat (5%)" (VAT rate in the UK is 17.5%, check the math)
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "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: TNT COURIER SERVICE COMPANY <tntcourier_tnt07@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 12:32:14 +0100 (BST)
Subject: COURIER COST OF DELIVERY/ORDER NO: 562725/ DISPATCH



6/08/2007
Reg order #:562725

ATTENTION: WINNER,


Thanks for contacting us frist we would like to let you know that, your winning has to be confidencial, that is,there has to be no thrid party involed due to security reason of relations/friends claiming winning prize on behalf of the winniner notice.

This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the UK LOTTERY AUTHORITY.

The original copy of this certificate and your cheque from the British government stating that the money was obtained legally through their NATIONAL LOTTERY BOARD will be sent to you as soon as you meet with any of the option selected and your winnings will be couriered or transferred to you immediately.

You can now begin the final step of the claims process, which is the transferring of your cash price, and your winning certificate and cheque to you.

With regards to this, there are three options open to you, you are required to select the most convenient of the option below for your COURIER CHARGES DELIVERY.

OPTION:1

Courier of your winning draft to you via any of this channel listed below:

EXPRESS DELIVERY(24 Hours)Delivery channel.
Mailing &n bsp;...........................£215.00
Insurance...................................£ 230.00
Vat (5%)....................................£124.75
TOTAL........................................£569.75

OPTION: 2

PREMIUM SERVICE(2working days)Delivery channel.
Mailing &n bsp;...........................£235.00
Insurance..................................£110.00
Vat (5%)...................................£102.95
TOTAL........................................£447.95

OPTION:3

REGULAR SERVICE(3working days)Delivery channel.
Mailing ;......................................£110.00
Insurance...................................£200.00
Vat (5%)....................................£059.00
TOTAL.........................................£369.00

The insurance company declined reverse payment for the courier, stating that it is against their professional policy towards ensuring the safe delivery of the draft to you.

That if a reverse payment is made, and something goes wrong, that we/you cannot sue the courier company or insurance company to recover the full value of the fund as stipulated in the draft since payment for insurance cover was not made at point of mailing.

With the above reason, reverse payment is ruled out.Forward the cost of mailing your draft with any of the courier channel cost you choose above to us.

Note that your prize is protected by a hardcover insurance policy by ECO TRUST INSURANCE COMPANY, which makes it impossible to deduct any amount from the money before it has been 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.

Also attach a scanned copy of either your driver's licence, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document.

Also be reminded that the deadline for the claiming of winnings is exactly one week after the receipt of this email. After this period, your cash prize will be deemed to have been forfeited by you and will be reused in the drawings of the next edition of the lottery.


Good luck and Congratulations once again.

You are to send your response within the next 24hrs

Thank you,


Mr. Dan White(dispartch officer)
Management.




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