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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• 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!
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • belgische_agent@yahoo.de (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Belgische Lottery Award 2007" <belgischelot68@googlemail.com>
Reply-To: belgische_agent@yahoo.de
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 05:20:11 -1200
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS HAS WON!!


The Co-ordinator
Belgische Lottery Program
Operators of The Belgische Lottery.
3b Olympic Way, Sefton Business Park,
Aintree, Liverpool , L30 1RD
REF Nº:UKL/74-A0802742007
BATCH Nº: 2007UKL-01
Lucky & Ref Number: EML.26EPG/0012-4426/0905.1/6/27/39/47-1-6

Good day Winner,
We wish to congratulate you over your e-mail success in our computer
balloting Lottery held in United Kingdom. This is a Millennium Scientific
Computer Game in which e-mail addresses were selected.

It is a promotional program aimed at encouraging Internet users; therefore
you do not need
to buy ticket to enter for it. You have been approved for payment of (£891,
934.00 pounds sterlings).

To claim your winning prize you are to contact Belgische Lottery as soon as
possible for the immediate release of your winnings.
Please contact BELGISCHE LOTTERY,
Email Reply:belgische_agent@yahoo.de

Your Lucky reference number is - EML.26EPG/0012-4426/0905.1/6/27/39/47-1-6

Yours Sincerely,
Mr Robert Martin

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam