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:
  • "i have a new email address!" (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
• 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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: claimdept@tiens.net.tf
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:22:06 +0530 (IST)
Subject: Congratulations, You Have Won A Fortune.


I have a new email address!You can now email me at: trvgg@ymail.com



- Dear Winner, AWARD NOTIFICATION/FINAL PAYMENT NOTICE. We are pleased to inform you of the announcement of Winners of the TIENS LOTTERY PROMOTIONS draws held on 24th November, 2008. Your email address attached to ticket number: 977-9662-855-244, with serial number : 0336-79 drew the lucky numbers : 00-47-12-98-44-33, EMERGED as one of the Lucky lottery winners in the 3rd category. You have therefore been approved for lump sum pay out of (£1.500.000.00) One Million, five hundred thousand British Pounds. Your Reference number is : 095574118088 TIENS. The above amount is from total prize Money Of Twenty-Five Million, five hundred thousand British Pounds (£25.500.000.00)shared amongst the seventeen International winners in this category. Note that you and other participants were selected through a computer Ballot System drawn from 250,000 email addresses from Oceania, Africa, Europe, North and South America and Asia as part of our international Promotions which is c!
onducted annually. To begin your claim, contact our Director, Claims/Remittance Department, Mrs. Agnes Brown, Email: claimdept@tiens.net.tf and send the following information : 1. Your reference number : 2. Full Names : 3. Contact address : 4. Country of Origin : 5. Age : 6. Sex: 7. Profession : 8. Tel/Fax: These will facilitate the processing and eventual release of your won prize money. Congratulations ! Yours faithfully, Mr. Trevor George. Tiens Lottery Promotions, UK.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam