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:
  • "hundred thousand great british 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)
  • ",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!
• 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.
  • +447045729811 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: MRS LOVETH JAMES <info@loan.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: mrslovethloanfirm_09@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 06:07:54 +0400
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! CLAIM YOUR PRIZE

POWERBALL LOTTERY. Bv
PBL -wheel E-game 2008
File: PBL /048226495/08
Batch: 38/04673/IPD

We happily announce to you the draws of the Europe/America POWERBALL
LOTTERY -Wheel E-game online program held August 2008. Your e-mail address
attached to ticket number: 56475600545188 with Ref: number 5368/02 drew
the lucky numbers: 02-25-26-27-39-49 37 (bonus ball) which subsequently
won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e. match 6 plus bonus. You have
therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £500,000.00 (Five Hundred
Thousand Great British Pounds Sterlings) in cash credited to file PBL
/048226495/08. This is from a total cash prize of £4,000,000.00 (Four
Million Great British Pounds Sterlings) shared amongst the (8) lucky
winners in this category i.e. Match 6 plus bonus. All participants for the
online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through
computer draw system and extracted from over 10,000 unions, associations
and corporate bodies that are listed online. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

This promotion takes place weekly. Please note that your lucky winning
number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe
as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your £500,000.00 would
be released to you by our payment offices in Europe. Our European agent
will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your
funds as soon as you contact him. For security reasons, you are advised to
keep your winning information/numbers confidential till your claims is
processed
and your money remitted to you. This is part of our precautionary measure
to avoid
double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.

NOTE: This promo does not demand our winners buying tickets. This is
strictly based on our computer email balloting. This is a form of
compensation and encouragement to all internet users around the world.

For further claims and enquiries, do contact our Due Process Unit Officer
below:
Name: Mr. Jerry Blakes,
Email: pbdpu.jblakes@live.com
Phone: (+447)-045-729-811

Submitted by,
Mary Ann Walters
Admin. Sec.

Note: Endeavor to contact this email address (pbdpu.jblakes@live.com) for
your claims, any mails outside this will be disqualified.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam