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:
  • "million pounds" (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: LOTTERY PROMO <hotel.medlov@iol.cz>
Reply-To: brianhunt2006lottery@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:20:39 GMT
Subject: You...Win




UK National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool=2C L70 1NL
Batch=3A 15/25/1203
draw (=231066) =


Dear Winner=2C
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash prize of =A3=
1=2C000=2C000=2E00 (One million Pounds Sterling)in cash credited to KTU/=
9023118308/03=2ETo file your claims please contact our claims processing=

department for clearance procedures

MR Fred Morrison =

Email=3Aclaimsofficer=5Fmorrison1=40yahoo=2Eco=2Euk =

PhoneE=3A+44701113295

VERIFICATION DETAILS =

Full Names=3A =

Address=3A =

Age=3A =

Sex=3A =

Marital Status=3A =

Occupation=3A =

Phone numbers=3A =

Country=3A =


Yours Truly=2C =

Sir Dr=2E Brian Hun

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam