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:
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
• 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: MARY ENRIGHT <enright.15@osu.edu>
Reply-To: evapedro500@jmail.co.za
Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:02:18 -0800
Subject: Batch No: 12/25/0034



=

WINNING DETAILS=3A
Ref=2E No=3A KPC/9080118308/02/TCA
Batch No=3A 12/25/0034
Ticket Number=3A ZZ 3502 /8707-01
=

Dear Winner
We are pleased to inform you of the final announcement th=
at you are one
of our year winner of the Microsoft Award Team=2C held on=
the
1st of March=2C 2008=2EYou have therefore been approved t=
o claim a total
sum of =A3500=2C000=2E00 Pounds=2E
=

Please contact Claims Officer for the claim of your winni=
ng prize=2E
Mrs=2EEva pedro
Email=3Aevapedro400=40jmail=2Eco=2Eza
=

Congratulation once more and have a nice day=2E
=

Your=27s Sincerely=2C
Mary Phillips
Online Co-ordinator=2E
=

=

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam