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:

• 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.
  • +447045710941 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: online@britishlottery.com
Reply-To: bristolcitycustomerservice@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:45:42 +0800 (MYT)
Subject: Contact Our Partner Bank For Payment


BRITISH SWEEPSTAKES LOTTERY
Batch: R3/A312-59
Ref:LSUK/2031/8161/06
(Customer Service)

ATTN: Winner

Please be informed that your e-mail address won for you a prize from the 2nd category, You are therefore been approved to claim a total sum of =A3750,000.00 (Seven Hundred And Fifty Thousand, Pounds Sterlings) in cash credited to file from the BRITISH SWEEPSTAKES ONLINE PROMO.To file for your claims and further explanation, Please contact our PARTNER BANK with the below details required for immediate validating and transfer of your winnings.Contact the Bank via e-mail below:

Bristol City Bank
International Transfer Unit
Contact Person:Mr.Morris Anderson
Email:transfer-unit@bcb-online.net
Tel: +44 704 571 0941
+44 701 112 9332

On contacting the Office you are to provide the following information:

FULL NAME OF BENEFICIARY:
CONTACT ADDRESS:
STATE/CITY:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
OCCUPATION:
SEX:
AGE:
AMOUNT WON:
PHONE NUMBER:
NEXT OF KIN:

Regards,
Mrs Rose Hughes
Online Coordinator for Sweepstakes Online Promo

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam