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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:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "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)
- "mswxmas@rcweb.net" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- 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 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.
- +447024075554 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: Mr Terry Martins <mswxmas@rcweb.net>
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:57:42 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Reference #: Batch: 12/25/0340
MICROSOFT NATIONAL LOTTO GROUP
16, TOLPITS LANE, WATFORD,
HERTS WD18 9RN UNITED KINGDOM
Reference #: Batch: 12/25/0340
We are pleased to inform you of 20th-March-2010 Microsoft National Lotto draw. Your email has won you the sum of £500,000.00(Five Hundred Thousand Pounds Sterling).Do contact our claims agent via e-mail as given below providing your full name(s) & reference # (same as above) for due processing and remittance of your prize money.
CONTACT PERSON: Mr. Terry Martins
Email: mswxmas@rcweb.net
Tel: +44 702 407 5554
INFORMATION REQUESTED:
(a) Your full Name:
(b) Contact address:
(c) Your Telephone and fax numbers:
(d) Your Age:
(e) Your occupation:
(f) Your country of origin:
Congratulations from all members and staffs of this promotion.
Yours Truly,
Online Coordinator
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Anti-fraud resources:
