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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:
- ",000,000" (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)
- "dr.morrisgreen@w.cn" (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.
- +447024058405 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Ban Ki-moon." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <dr.morrisgreen@w.cn>
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:42:36 +0100
Subject: Congratulations!!!
Congratulations!!!
We at the United Nations (UN) global office in colaboration with international e-promo group like to officially congratulate you on our yearly raffle draw that was held by our organization, which featured you as the second place winner.
The United Nations Compensation Commission(UNCC)has made available total of $863,725,490.00 to 27 governments and two international organizations for distribution to 370 successful claimants. This payment is made under the third phase of the payment mechanism established by the UNCC Governing Council.Your e-mail came up under the list of people who will be paid as a result of their winning fund from lottery winnings.
See the UNITED NATIONS news link for details:http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/ik344.doc.htm
This promotion is been organized each year to promote our global publicity and reputations as we plan to exploit more corners of the World. This promotion is just one of various ways we are presently using to Achieve this global vision of ours. Your e-mail with Winning ID...(UNO-AAA/1111/088) was luckily drawn to be this year's second place winner cash prize of $1,000,000.00 United States Dollars. This money we believe will enable you make some impact in the society and also better your current life status.
To file for your claim, please contact ( Dr. Morris Green) the United Nation Compensation claiming manager office with the details below and file the form correctly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Morris Green
E-mail: dr.morrisgreen@w.cn
Telephone: +447024058405
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Names: ......................
Gender: ..........................
Age: ...................
Contact Address: .............
Phone number(s): .................
Fax Number(s): ...................
Occupation: ......................
Winning E-Mail Address:.............
Marriage status: .................
Nationality: .....................
Next of kin: .....................
State/Province: ..................
Country: .........................
Special greetings from the entire Staffs of United Nations Trust Funds Worldwide.
Signed.
Mr. Ban Ki-moon.
(UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL).
It's your world !!!!!!
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Anti-fraud resources:
