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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:
- "certified bank draft" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- "jafred87@yahoo.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!
Fraud email example:
From: "United Nations" (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2012 12:37:01 -0700
Subject: UN/EU-0A0-11044-5111
ATTENTION BENEFICIARY:
How are you doing today? Hope all is well with you and family? As this
email account holder you are the lucky Award Winner of the just concluded United
Nations/European Union compensation promotion Award held here in UK.
The selection was made through a computer draw system attaching email
addresses worldwide in a random ballot system wherein your email address
emerged as the Winner No. 1 in the first category and as the top Award
winner in this Edition 2012.
You have been Awarded the compensation payment of $1,700.000.00. USD (One
Million Seven Hundred Thousand USD) this has been agreed upon and has been
signed by the United Nations Board of Directors and EU Board of Trustees.
As part of mutual agreement entered between the Award committee and
British government proper and legitimate verification must be made to make sure
payment is not issued to the wrong email account holder therefore your
payment must pass through British insurance cover Bond to make sure you
are the rightful owner of the email account and to insure your payment after
true verification is confirmed.
You have to contact Ms. Jenny Alfred to submit your Full Name and Address
with your email winning ID and direct telephone number for accreditation
and insurance Bond procurement. Your Award payment $1.7 Million USD is in a
Certified Bank Draft and ATM PAYMENT CARD for security purpose. After the
process of proper verification and insurance cover procurement your Bank
Draft and ATM CARD will be delivered to you through Express delivery to
your provided address.
Incase you wish your money to be remitted to your bank account you have to
indicate and request for bank to bank transfer. Your file Reference no.
(UN/EU-0A0-11044-5111) Serial email award no. No.1/00230/UN/EU Contact
Ms.Jenny Alfred immediately to submit your winning award particulars
below.
1,Full Name and completed address
2,Telephone number
3,Reference No.
4,Serial email award No.
Congratulation!!! Contact immediately to claim and receive your award
payment. Keep your award particulars confidential to avoid double claim.
Contact Ms. Jenny Alfred
Email: jafred87@yahoo.cn
Regards,
Dr.Ban Ki-Moon.
UN/EU 2012 AWARD
(UNITED NATIONS)
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Anti-fraud resources:
