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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:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "2012 GOOLE ONLINE AWARD" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <gpaymentoffice@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2012 20:06:01 -0500
Subject: YOU HAVE WON!!
2012 GOOGLE ONLINE AWARD
Google UK Ltd
Belgrave House
76 Buckingham Palace Road
London SW1W 9TQ
United Kingdom
Tel:+447924004706
AWARD CLAIM DEPARTMENT
Attention:Email Account Owner'
This is to inform you that the Google & 2012 Olympic Award Co-Ordintor forwarded your email address to me and request me to contact you for the claim of your Won Prize with the details as stated below:-
BATCH NUMBERS: 15/435070/CK/KKP
SERIAL NUMBER: 39224959/2006
ONLINE TICKET NUMBER: 356-0009-832-11222
AMOUNT: £500,000 FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND BRITISH POUND STERLING
You are required to make available to me the details as stated below for proceedings and for the release of your Won Prize, the Notification Letter that was sent to you is not a mistake.
1. Your full names.......................
2. Name of your next of kin...............
3. Direct Mobile Number.....................
4. Date of Birth......................... ..Place of Birth............................
5. Marital Status........................ ..
6. Full Address.....................................
I am waiting for your earliest reply so that I can advice you on what next to do. Please keep your winning details safe as any breach of information may result to disqualification of your Won Prize.
Yours in Service
Mr. Mark Paulson
Claim Agent
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