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:
  • "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • ",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!

Fraud email example:

From: "Luxembourg Lotterien." <genevalotterien@live.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:34:05 -0400
Subject: Dear Winner,

 

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPT
BATCH NO: PBL/67189098011/245679/1109
REF. NO: PBL/11278998789/908796//1109

 

Dear Winner,

 

   This is to inform you of the release of the E-MAIL LOTTERY BALLOT  INTERNATIONAL/WORLD GAMING BOARD. Your name attached to ticket number 219028657434 with Serial number 918735625 drew the lucky numbers of  21-70-81-82-99 which consequently won the lottery in the 1st category.

 

You have just won yourself the sum of 1,000,000.00 GBP ( ONE MILLION  POUNDS STERLING ) in the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY In which e-mail addresses  are picked randomly by software powered by the Internet.

 

Your email  address was amongst those chosen in this quarter and you are to contact our  CLAIMS OFFICER for Clearance.

 

CONTACT NAME: MOTLEY BRANDON
EMAIL: genevalotterien@live.com

 

This is part of the Country's Programme to fund for the Olympic Games in 2012 The £1.5bn Olympic lottery puzzle (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4719851.stm)

 

Sincerely,
MRS.RETHERFORD RENAUD

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam