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.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "million united states dollars" (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)
  • ",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)
  • "00,000.00" (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)
• 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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +31626415837 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)
• 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.
  • europeanprizeaward2007_01@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Association of European Charity Foundations," <europeanprizeaward2007_03@yahoo.com.hk>
Reply-To: europeanprizeaward2007_01@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:07:42 -0500 (EST)
Subject: NOTIFICATION FOR CASH AID.

Foundation's Officer,
Association of European Charity Foundations,
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Dear Sir/Madam,
NOTIFICATION FOR CASH AID.
This is to notify you that you have been chosen By the Board of trustees of the above International charity organization branched in the Netherlands as one of the final recipients of a Cash Grant/Donation for your own personal, education and business development.
Based on the random selection exercise of internet service providers (ISP) and millions of Super market cash invoices worldwide, you were selected among the lucky recipients to receive the award sum of US$2,000,000.00 (TWO Million United States Dollars) as charity donations/aid from the Association Of European Charity Foundations and the UNO in accordance with the enabling act of Parliament. Note that, your email was selected from either the internet, or a Shop's cash invoice around your area in which you might have purchased something from.
Please endeavor to quote your Qualification numbers (N-220-6721, L-001-04) in all discussions.
***********************************
Executive Secretary,
Mr. Arthur stewart
Tel:+31-626-415-837
Fax:+31-84-740-9260.
Email:europeanprizeaward2007_01@yahoo.com.hk
**********************************
Please note that this donation/Grant is strictly administered by "European Union" under delegated powers from the UNO. You are hereby advised to keep this whole information confidential until you have been able to collect your donation, as there have been many cases of double and unqualified claim, due to beneficiaries informing third parties about his/her donation.
Finally, all funds should be claimed by their respective beneficiaries, not later that 7 days after notification, as failure will lead to cancellation and your donation will be reserved for next year’s recipients.
On behalf of the Board kindly accept our warmest congratulations
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Gordon JUlia
(Foundation officer)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam