|
|
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:
- 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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "million british pounds" (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)
- "coca002@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!
Fraud email example:
From: "COCA COLA ONLINE INTERNATIONAL AWARD 2012." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <coca002@live.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Dec 2012 12:45:38 +0530
Subject: THE COCA COLA COMPANY PROMOTION
THE COCA COLA COMPANY PROMOTION
PRIZE AWARD DEPT COCA COLA AVENUE
15-17 COCK SPUR STREET SW1Y 5BL
LONDON UNITED
KINGDOM!
Dear Sir/Madam
Congrats! Your email address has won the sum of (1.000.000.00)ONE MILLION BRITISH POUNDS from COCA COLA lottery promotion Anniversary Draw 2012.
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF THE LUCKY WINNER IN ON GOING COCA COLA INTERNATIONAL ONLINE DRAW BY OUR
INTERNET WORLD DATA BASE ASIA, EUROPE, AMERICA AND AFRICA NATIONS, TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE
CONTACT, MR. ROLAND WEST VIA Email : coca002@live.com phone...00447017046852
Ticket Number 5647500545188
Serial Number 5368/02
Lucky Number 10-22-24-3456
BATCH N?.:200UK-01
After you submit your bellow form please check your Email in hour bases for the next step of payment.
1.FULL NAMES...............
2.COUNTRY OF ORIGIN............
3.DATE OF BIRTH...............
4.OCCUPATION.............
5.CONTACT ADDRESS.............
6.TELEPHONE NUMBERS............
7.TICKET AND LOTTO NUMBER...............
8.SERIAL NUMBER...............
9.SEX ...........................
Congratulations Once More!!
Yours Faithfully,
DR. KEVIN SMITH
|
Anti-fraud resources:
