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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:
- "million 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)
- 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.
- +448719743776 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: Ten Cricket<crecketfund@rediffmail.com>
Reply-To: ten.cricket@outlook.com
Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 14:23:42 +0530
Subject: CRICKET WINNER'S 2014
Dear winner, your Email Id is a selected winner of (=A31, Million pounds) i=
n Ten Cricket Poverty Alleviation promo 2014. The cricket poverty Alleviati=
on promo was conducted through a balloting system of Email addresses that a=
re active online In India. Among the billions that subscribe to different e=
mail networks, you have been selected as one of the winners to benefit from=
this promotion. Winners shall be paid in accordance with his/her Settlemen=
t Centre. This Award must be claimed no later than 21 working days from dat=
e of Draw Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be fo=
rfeited. You are advised to send the following information to your Claims A=
gent Dr. SURJEET SINGH to facilitate the release of your fund to you. Via E=
mail: ( ten.cricket@outlook.com ) 1. Your Name................... 2. Mobile=
No.................... 3. Country...................... 4. State..........=
............... 5. Home Address.................. 6. Age...................=
........ 7. Occupation.................... 8. Sex..........................=
. 9. Email Id...................... 10.Your Bank acct Details......... 11.A=
ny copy of your identity proof. Congratulations!! Once again. Yours in serv=
ice, Dr.SURJEET SINGH, CRICKET AWARD PAYMENT OFFICER Tel: +448719743776 Ema=
il: ten.cricket@outlook.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
