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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:
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- 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: "Mrs. Lonni K Anderson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <agettrevormiller@dgoh.org>
Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 07:22:39 -0000
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!
Lotto Max Lottery
http://www.lottomax.com/
Dear E-mail (ID) owner, we are delighted to inform you that your E-mail addresses(ID) with your on-line Winning ticket number [1EC-16529CE3-8887] have won you ($750,000.00 USD) in the 2nd category from the Lotto Max lottery promo 2012. Lotto Max lottery is fully based on an electronic selection of winners, either using their E-mail addresses or Purchasing of scratch card.
In this category your Email (ID) was selected among 1million Email (ID) entry via individual ip address in different countries with the help of global valid Email(ID) database through computer ballot system powered by Microsoft. You are therefore been approved to claim a total sum of $750,000.00 USD (Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand United State Dollars) credited to this ticket number [1EC-16529CE3-8887].
To file your claims and process the immediate release of your winnings. Kindly fill the form below and contact your Accredited Agent: Mr. Trevor Miller via Email : agettrevormiller@dgoh.org
OFFICIAL DOCUMENTATION FORM
(1) YOUR FULL NAME:..
(2) CONTACT ADDRESS:..
(3) TELEPHONE:..
(4) OCCUPATION(S)..
(5) SEX:..
(6) DATE OF BIRTH:..
(7) YOUR BANK NAME:..
(8) COUNTRY OR TERRITORY:..
(9) WINNING TICKET NUMBER:..
RAW VIDEO Click this link to view our past Lotto Max Lottery® Winners - http://vimeo.com/7544390
Sign: Lotto Max Lottery 2012
On-line Ticket coordinator
Mrs. Lonni K Anderson
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Anti-fraud resources:
