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:
  • "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • ",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)
  • "foreign exchange" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
• 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.
  • +31617653400 (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.
  • postbankpymnt@aol.com
  • postbankpaymentcentre@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "UK NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMOTIONS" <averamoore@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:28:59 +0300
Subject: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

NATIONAL LOTTERY
Support Centre
Solar House
1-9 Romford Road
London, United Kingdom
FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
COMPANY NO. 02949433

SERIAL NUMBER: NTL/35272190
TICKET NUMBER: 67859427666
BATCH NUMBER: UK/EU/3542878972
REFERENCE NUMBER: UML/EU/55553/08
WINNING NUMBERS:25-28-34-37-42-48-55


ATTENTION: Sir/Madam,
RE/AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION; FINAL NOTICE


We are pleased to inform you of the final announcement that you are one
of our New Year winners of the UNITED KINGDOM NATIONAL LOTTERY ONLINE
SWEEPSTAKES INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS PROGRAM AWARDS, held recently.

Your e-mail address emerged in the second category as you have won for your
self a total sum of £1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION POUND STERLING ONLY).in out
of the total amount of £5,000,000.00 (FIVE MILLION POUND STERLING ONLY)
shared amongst the five (5) winners in the second category.

To file for your claim, please contact our European Paying Bank; Post Bank
NL in The Netherlands through the Director, Processing/Foreign Exchange
Department (FOREX)

Dr. Paul Benjamin
Tel:- 0031-617653400 Fax:- 0031.847378354
Email:postbankpymnt@aol.com Or postbankpaymentcentre@gmail.com
FILL THE INFORMATION BELOW AND SEND TO OUR EUROPEAN PAYING BANK FOR
VERIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION BEFORE PAYMENT CAN BE APPROVED AND RELEASED
TO YOU ACCORDINGLY:-

1. Full Names:
2. Address:
3. Age:
4. Sex:
5. Marital Status:
6. Occupation:
7. Phone numbers:
8. Fax Number
9. Country:
10. Won E-mail address


For due processing and remittance of your prize money, please remember to
quote your reference and batch numbers in every one of your correspondences
with our paying Bank. Remember also that all prize money must be claimed not
later than 4weeks. After this date, all funds will be returned as unclaimed.


Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform us and
our paying as soon as possible.

Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being part
of our promotional lottery program.

Sincerely,
Anne-Vera Moore.
Zonal Co-ordinator

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam