419 scam: "Vanessa Gonzales"<windept@postino.net> Claims Notification

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "claimsoffice@collector.org" (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:
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: "Vanessa Gonzales" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <claimsoffice@collector.org>
Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2011 12:59:01 +0100
Subject: Claims Notification

Attn: E-mail User,

We are writing to inform you of the approved and certified result of our Free (Online) Sweepstakes program that was conducted on the 21st day of October, 2011 by telefonicanet. Your email address as extracted by us and entered into our Free Sweepstakes program with a File Serial Number: BCN-/015DMD, has won you its owner a cash prize of €2,100,000 Only (Two Million, One Hundred Thousand Euro Only). See below are the details that are required from you for the claim/payment processes.

1). Full Names:
2). Residential Address:
3). Phone/Fax Numbers:
4). Country of Resident:
5). File Number:
6). Amount Won:
7). Your winning Email Address:

This lottery program was wholly conducted by us as a Goodwill Gesture. You have to claim this winning fund within 25days of your receipt of this message. Kindly send the above requested details to our payment department email address below.

Telefonica net Lotto
Raúl Cesar González
Tel: +34634111273
Fax: +34911814279
Email:claimsoffice@collector.org

They await your urgent response now.

Sincerely yours,
Telefonica net Lotto
Madrid, España.
Copyright (c) 2011

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam