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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:
- "black.berry2011announcer@live.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "black.berry2011announcer@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!
- 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.
- +447010035318 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Graham Ryan" <lindalarry49@yahoo.com.sg>
Reply-To: black.berry2011announcer@live.com
Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2011 01:31:37 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: DEAR LUCKY ANNOUNCED WINNER No #9.
DEAR LUCKY ANNOUNCED WINNER No #9.
Your email address is among emails that has been awarded a sum
of Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Great Britain.Pounds
(GBP-750,000.00) with One Blackberry 9639/9630 TV Phone Blackberry
Phone, Model: XD-9639 Color: black.
In Blackberry Storm Online Email Promo 2011 held in London England,
which you are a winner No #9.And you have been approved to claim your
prize by filling this information below and forward to the Blackberry
Award.Center Company through their email address
black.berry2011announcer@live.com
Also make sure you call the head of the department Prof.Harlex C. George
on his office phone as soon as you have submitted your details to avoid
any further delay.
The Details Of Your Awarded prize Below:
Approved Amount:_____(GBP-750,000.00 Pounds)
Model:_______________XD-9639 Color:__Black
Black Berry:__________9639/9630 TV Phone Blackberry Phone
Serial Number:_______Digi099286
Lucky Number:________Digi9-23-19-37-43-17(Pc21)
Ticket Number:_______Digi0097471
You are required to contact Prof. Harlex C.George for your claim and
Provide to him with the information below for
verification
Your Personal Details:
Your Name:__________
Address:____________
Country:____________
Age:________________
Gender:_____________
Occupation:_________
Phone:______________
Fax:________________
Winning E-mail Address:___________
Contact Person: Prof. Harlex C.George
Contact Email: black.berry2011announcer@live.com
TEL: +447010035318
Regards,
Mr.Graham Ryan.
Tel:+447014231705
Announcer For Int'L Blackberry Storm Online Email Promo.
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Anti-fraud resources: