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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 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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million 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)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- 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: "UK Lotto" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bainesjoan@fm.bb>
Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2011 15:35:42 +0100
Subject: Ref: UK/9420X2/68
UK NATIONAL LOTTERY AWARD 2011!!
Attn:Winner,
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
Lucky No:- 07-13-31.54-640
Serial No: - MUO TI/82536
We happily announce the results of the previous week online draws of
over 300,000 email leads where six email addresses were randomly
selected and that made the email addresses automatically winner of the
sum of £5 Million Pounds.
This is meant to inform you that your email address was among the six
email address chosen which therefore means to say that you are a winner
of the sum of £5 Millions Pounds which will be issued in a cheque on
your name in receipt of the requested datas below.
1.FULL NAMES:________________________
2.ADDRESS:_________________________
3.SEX:________________________________
4.AGE:________________________________
5.MARITAL STATUS:_____________________
6.OCCUPATION:_________________________
7.TELEPHONE NUMBER:___________
6.COUNTRY:_________________________
Contact Our Claims Agent
Name: Mr Grant Harry
Email address: claimsdept@fm.bb
After filling the form , you are to contact the claims office with the
information filled in the form for further instructions and processing
of your winning through the contact email address above.
Congratulations from the staffs and members of the National Lottery
Sweepstakes U K.
Sincerely,
Mrs Baines Joan
online Co-ordinator.
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