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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "high insurance policy" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- 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: Online Sweepstakes®<megamillionpicknplay@luckymail.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:20:40 GMT
Subject: Congratulations
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS DEPT.
Dear Lucky Winner!!!
CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE WON USD$500,000.00
You have emerged the 2010 MICROSOFT promotions award winner
of our yearly promotions.Your email which drew the winning number,was selected via our E-
games Random Selection System (ERSS). You have been approved for a
payment of USD$500,000.00 (Five hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in cash credited to file reference
number:ORDER-NUMBER (GX22589420 which is deposited with a Finance & Security Company in
your favour as beneficiary and covered with HIGH INSURANCE POLICY.
To begin your claim, you are to contact our accredited claims agent with the following information:
FULL NAME:-
HOME ADDRESS:-
AGE:-
NATIONALITY:-
OCCUPATION:-
TELEPHONE :-
FAX:-
GENDER/SEX:-
WINNING E-MAIL ADDRESS:-
================================================
MR.GIOVANNI TRAPANI
TEL: +39 388 194 5534
Email: lotto@picknplaylotto.com
===============================================
Yours Sincerely,
DR. MRS LAURA GREEN
NEVER SEND SPAM. IT IS BAD.
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