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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
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.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "courier service" (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:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
Fraud email example:
From: salmon griffith <uknationallotterypgm_01@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 15:44:17 +0100 (BST)
Subject: REQUIRED DETAILS NEEDED.
ATTENTION: EMA KLUG,
YOU ARE THE RIGHTFUL WINNER OF THE THE UK NATIONAL LOTTERY SWEEPSTAKES OF 750.000.00 POUNDS(GBP).YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WAS SELECTED FROM A MICROSOFT BALLOT SYSTEM "BONUS BALL".WHICH SELECTED YOUR EMAIL AS THE 2ND WINNER OF OUR LOTTERY PROGRAM YOU HAVE CONSEQUENTLY WON THE LOTTERY PROGRAM IN THE FIRST BATCH.
YOU ARE TO FURNISH US WITH YOUR CONTACT DETAILS SO WE CAN REFER YOU TO POST DELIVERY COURIER SERVICE WHERE A CHEQUE OF OF THE SAID AMOUNT HAS BEEN FORWARDED IN YOUR FAVOUR FOR DELIVERY TO YOU.
VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM
FULLNAMES :
AGE:
SEX:
ADDRESS:
COUNTRY:
WINNING EMAIL ADDRESS:
MARITAL STATUS:
OCCUPATION:
PHONE NUMBER:
FAX NUMBER:
LUCKY NUMBER :
REF NUMBER:
AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE.
FAITHFULLY,
SALMON GRIFFITH(Mr).
CLAIMS AGENT.
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Anti-fraud resources:
