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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
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.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "i have a new email address!" (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- 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.
- mralessmith@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
- uklottolottery1987@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Mr Ales Smith <mralessmith@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: uklottolottery1987@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:42:23 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: WINNINGS NOTIFICATION CONGRATULATIONS!!!! FOR YOUR ATTENTION/VERY URGE
I have a new email address!You can now email me at: mralessmith@yahoo.com
- WINNINGS NOTIFICATION OF US$4.2M We happily announce to you the draw of the Uk-Lotto Sweepstake lottery International programs held in Bangkok Thailand on the 28th of JUNE,2008. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:07-12-23-26-29-44 which subsequently won you the lottery in the first category. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of $4.2M.The World Pak Express Courier has been given the Contract to deliver all our winners cheque to the address of the respective winners. WORLD PAK EXPRESS COURIER COMPANY LTD in Thailand. Contact Agent: MR WILLIM JOHNSON Email uklottolottery1987@yahoo.com.hk . Contact him immediately for advice on your lottery fund payment with your full names, telephone number, Age and occupation, your country and address where you want to receive your winnings cheque
Anti-fraud resources:
