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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "cost of mailing your draft" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • "payment for the courier" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • ",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)
  • "deadline" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
  • "vat (5%)" (VAT rate in the UK is 17.5%, check the math)
  • "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
• 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.
  • address.elitecourier_7@yahoo.co.uk

Fraud email example:

From: "john marry" <jacksonwhite11@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:36:01 +0100
Subject: COST OF DELIVERY


*ELITE XPRESS COURIER DELIVERY SERVICE. *
*Braford, L70 7NL*
*London
UNITED KINGDOM

* **
**
*REG ORDER NO:562725 *
*Date:26-06- 2008*
**
*ATTENTION:Verhoeve,






*

* This is to inform you that you have been officially cleared for payment
by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the UK National Lottery.
The original copy of this certificate from the British government stating
that the money was obtained legally through their National Lotto will be
sent to you and the bank as soon as you meet with any of the option
selected and your winnings will be couriered or transferred to you
immediately. You can now begin the final step of the claims process, which
is the transferring of your cash prize to you. With regards to this, there
are two options open to you, you are required to select the most convenient
of the two.*
*The options, together with their associated conditions are presented below:
*
**
**
*NOTE:.Participants were selected through a computer ballot system
drawn from a pool of over 25,000,000 Emails of distinguished professionals
drawn from Europe,America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Middle-East, parts
of Africa,
and North & South America as part of our international promotions programme
conducted annually to encourage prospective overseas entries.
We hope with part of your prize awards, you will take part in our
subsequent lottery jackpots.*
**
*OPTION 1:
Courier of your winning draft to you via any of this channel listed below:*
**
**
*Elite Xpress delivery(2working days)*
*Mailing* *£70.00 * *00.00* *Insurance* *£250.00* *00.00* *Vat (5%)* *
£30.00* *00.00* *TOTAL* *£350.00* *00.00*
**
**
*Elite Xpress delivery(24hrs same days)*
*Mailing* *£70.00* *00.00* *Insurance* *£350.00* *00.00* *Vat (5%)* *
£30.75* *00.00* *TOTAL* *£450.75* *00.00*
**
**
*Elite Xpress delivery(**4working days)
*
*Mailing* *£20.00 * *00.00* *Insurance* *£200.00 * *00.00* *Vat (5%)* *
£80.75* *00.00* *TOTAL* *£300.75 * *00.00*
**
* The insurance company declined reverse payment for the courier, stating
that it is against their professional policy towards ensuring the safe
delivery of the draft to you. That if a reverse payment is made, and
something goes wrong, that we/you cannot sue the courier company or
insurance company to recover the full value of t he fund as stipulated in
the draft since payment for insurance cover was not made at point of
mailing.*
**
*With the above reason, reverse payment is ruled out.Forward the cost of
mailing your draft with any of the courier channel cost you choose above to
us.*
*OPTION2:*
*Condition: The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by our
transfering bank, which is (£ 2,000 GBP) of the cash being transferred will
be paid by you(winner) which shall also be credited to your winning prize
and it also refundable.*
**
*Note: That your prize is protected by a hardcover insurance policy by
GEOTRUST INSURANCE COMPANY, which makes it impossible to deduct any amount
from the money before it has been remitted to you. This means that the above
charges cannot be deducted from the prize and hence must be provided by you
first before your prize is transferred to you.*
**
* Please respond to this email by making a selection from the two options
above. *
*Also attach a scanned copy of either your driver's licence, international
passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document.*
**
* Also be reminded that the deadline for the claiming of winnings is
exactly two weeks after the receipt of this email. After this period, your
cash prize will be deemed to have been forfeited by you and will be reused
in the drawings of the next edition of the lottery.*
*Good luck and Congratulations once again. Please send your response within
the next 24hrs to this same email
**address.elitecourier_7@yahoo.co.uk*<http://mail.yahoo.com/config/login?/ym/Compose?To=address.elitecourier_7@yahoo.co.uk>
**
*Best regards*
**
*Mr Smith MARK(dispatch officer)*
**
*ELITE XPRESS COURIER SERVICE.*

>

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam