|
|
joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
|
|
"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:
- "odd@teamconsult.no" (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!
- 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.
- +447045797637 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- pepsiaward2010@yahoo.com.hk (Yahoo, Hong Kong; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Odd Vorhaug" <odd@teamconsult.no>
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 12:30:22 +0200
Subject: VS: AWARD NOTIFICATION
-----Opprinnelig melding-----
Fra: THE 2010 PEPSI COLA AWARD INTERNATIONAL
[mailto:info@pepsicolaaward.com]
Sendt: 30. juli 2010 00:21
Til: odd@teamconsult.no
Emne: AWARD NOTIFICATION
THE 2010 PEPSI COLA AWARD INTERNATIONAL
United kingdom
REFERENCE NUMBER: UK/8954Y3/76
BATCH NUMBER: 082/09/QH501
Dear winner
This is to inform you that your email have been selected as one
the lucky winner of a cash prize of 750.000.00 GBP (Seven Hundred
And Fifty Thousand Great British Pounds).
Please fill in your full details and contact operation director below
Names:
Address:
Age:
occupation:
Phone no:
Country:
DR ERIC FOSS
CEO,PEPSI EUROPE
EMAIL:pepsiaward2010@yahoo.com.hk
UNITED KINGDOM
NUMBER:+4470-4579-7637
DR MRS INRA K. NOOYI
CHAIRMAN AND CEO
PEPSICO WORLD WIDE.
NOTE: You may also receive similar e-mails from people portraying to be
other Organizations or Yahoo Microsoft Inc. This is solely to collect your
personal information from you and lay claim over your winning. In event
that you receive any e-mail similar to the notification letter that was
sent to you, kindly delete it from your mail box and give no further
correspondence to such person or body.PEPSI COLA INTERNATIONAL shall not
be held responsible for any loss of fund arising from the above mentioned.
Winners are also advised to keep their winning details/information from the
public to avoid fraudulent claim (IMPORTANT).
|
Anti-fraud resources:
