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:
  • "a security company " (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. )
  • "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
  • "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
• 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: Steven Howard <stevenhoward218@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:32:52 +0000
Subject: Winning Notification Ref: UK/9420X2/68



The National Lottery
International Prize Award Department
PO Box 1010
Liverpool 170 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
website:www.national-lottery.co.uk

Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369

ATTENTION LUCKY WINNER.

We happily announce to you the draw (#974) of the Uk National Lottery, online Sweepstakes International program held on Thursday, 22nd jun 2008. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: ( 4 ) ( 7 ) ( 29 ) ( 30 ) ( 42 ) ( 44 ) ( 39 )
(bonus no.), which subsequently won you the lottery in the first category i.e match 6 plus bonus.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of GBP800.000 (EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS ) in cash credited to file KTU/9023118308/03.Your fund is now deposited with a security company insured to your name. Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award top secret from public notice until your claim has been processed as this is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unwarranted taking of advantage of this program by participants.

All participants were selected through computer ballot system drawn from 25,000 names from Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, Middle East and North America as part of our International Promotion Program which we conduct once every year. we hope with a part of your prize, you will take part in our end of the year high stake GBP1.3 Billion International Lottery.

To begin your claim, Please contact your Validating Officer for Validation of your winning within nine working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are not validated within nine working days of winning notification are termed void and invalid. You are required to mention the above particulars
of your award in every correspondence to enable the Agent in VietNam to validate your winning

Contact:


Foreign Transfer Manager
Name Mr. Steven Howard
Microsoft Security Department Viet Nam.
TEL: + 84 (0)-984-655-595
E-mail:stevenhowardd@msn.com


First Name:

Second Name:

Age:

Nationality:

Occupation:

Contact Address:

Phone Number:

Fax:

Remember, all prize money must be claimed not later than 22nd day of December 2008. After this date, all funds will be returned to the Ministry of Economy as unclaimed.

NOTE: in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and batch number in every of your correspondence with us or your agent. Furthermore, should there be any change of address, do inform your claims agent as soon as possible.

This lottery program was organized and sponsored by MSN, Microsoft Inc, Toshiba, Multi Choice and other corporate Organizations to improve the use of computer software's and for the benefit of every Microsoft user.

Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program.

Yours Sincerely.
Dr Philip Collins
LOTTO CO-ORDINATOR.

Warning !!! You must be 16 or over to claim a prize

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam