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 agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "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)
  • "million 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)
  • "deadline" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
• 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.
  • +447045784022 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
• 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.
  • claims145@yahoo.co.uk
  • yahooclaimscentre@i12.com

Fraud email example:

From: Yahoo Award Promotonal Draws <awarddraws20@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: yahooclaimscentre@i12.com
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:17:25 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: WINNING PRIZE AND CLAIMS INFO.


YAHOO WINDOW LIVE MAIL BETA!
Yahoo Award Winning Notification Center.
Manchester United Kingdom.

Dear Winner,

We are pleased to inform you of the announcement of Yahoo! great reality promotional program held on 24th April, 2008 here in Manchester United Kingdom.

Among the (Five Hundred Thousand) email addresses that was extracted randomly from yahoo subscribers active online, hotmail and also emails from many more other email providers in the world, "congratulations!" your email address tagged with ticket number: MFI/0689110/LND and Reference number: GBP571813YUK was among the Fifteen (15) lucky emails that have been selected to benefit from this program. Your email luckily won you the sum of USD$3.5 Million Dollars in the 3rd category.

WINNING PRIZE AND CLAIMS INFO

You are hereby approved to claim the sum of USD$3.5 Million United States Dollars by contacting immediately your claims agent with below info, and payments will be made to every winner according to his or her residential locations.

To file for your claims, you are hereby advised to immediately contact the 3rd category Agent Mr. Morgan Hilton on:-
Email: claims145@yahoo.co.uk {or} yahooclaimscentre@i12.com
Tel: +44-70457-84022

Contact him with the following information below as to facilitate the release of your won prize money to you within 4 working days:-
1. Your full Names:..................
2. Address:..........................
3. Phone numbers:....................
4. Age:........& Sex:................
5. Occupation:.......................
6. Nationality:......................
7. You are to quote your ticket number and reference number to him for verification of your winning.

Claims must be filed by you before the deadline date to avoid forfeiture as any prize not claimed after the deadline will be forfeited.

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL, CONTACT YOUR AGENT FOR YOUR CLAIMS!
Congratulations once again from the entire staff of Yahoo!Organization.

Yours Faithfully,
Dr. Mrs. Margaret Harrison.


---------------------------------
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam