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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:
- "hundred thousand great british pounds" (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)
- "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)
- "headquater" (this email uses bad English)
- "pgt_claimsagency@live.com" (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!
Fraud email example:
From: "PEUGEOT AUTOMOBILE" <pgt_draws@pgt.org>
Reply-To: pgt_claimsagency@live.com
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:25:42 -0000 (GMT)
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE WON
=?iso-8859-1?Q?=A3300=2C000.00_GBP_?=
PEUGEOT AUTOMOBILES PROMOTION
Peugeot Auto-mobiles headquaters
Essex, PE9 2YP, London
United Kingdom.
Secret Pin No: PGA00111234
Reference Number PGA:12058006/09
This is to inform you that your Email address has just won you the sum of
£300,000.00 GBP (Three Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds) and the new
2008
model Peugeot 407 Car,From the International online programs held today in
London, United Kingdom.
To begin the processing of your prize you are to contact the remittance
department with the email address provided below through our accredited
Prize
Transfer agents as stated below:
Mr. Louis Alfred
E-mail: pgt_claimsagency@live.com
-------------------------------------------------------
Contact him with your secret pin code PGA00111234 and your reference
number PGA: 12058006/09.You are also advised to provide him with the under
listed
information as soon as possible:
Claims Requirements:
1. Name in full
2. Address
3. Sex/Age
4. Nationality
5. Occupation
6. Phone/Fax
7. Present Country
Congratulations once again!
With Best Regards
Mr. Weller Buckstead
Lottery Promotion Manager
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Anti-fraud resources:
