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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 office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "richmaonthomson1@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: INFO@LOTTERY.COM
Reply-To: richmaonthomson1@live.com
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 18:40:33 +0530
Subject: CONGRATULATION..
REF: LSUK/2013/8161/04
BATCH: R3/A312-59
Dear Winner
We are glad to inform you that your Email has won the sum of £500,000GBP (Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pound Sterling) in The UK National Lottery in collaboration with Shell Petroleum India in this year Annual Draw Exhibition. This Prize is given out randomly to worldwide individuals, for their personal business development and enhancement of their educational plans.
Your Online Ticket Number XDX-189-200.
Kindly keep your ticket number confidential to avoid double claim of prize amount due to our past experience.you are expected to claim your prize immediately without further delay.
The objective is to make a notable change in the standard of living of people all around the Universe (From America to Europe, Asia to Africa and all around) like in the next 20years. Your email was electronically selected as a winner in this Year Annual Draw. In order to claim, contact the claims officer Mr Richmaon Thomson via the email address richmaonthomson1@live.com
below with the following information’s:
• Name:
• Contact Address:
• Country:
• Mobile Number:
• Age:
• Occupation:
Mr.Harry West.
(online coordinator)
NOTE: For future communication, kindly check your Inbox & Spam folder for regular update concerning winning prize release.
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Anti-fraud resources:
