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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "anti-terrorism certificate" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
- "clear source of funds certificate" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
- "certificates of origin of funds" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "cheque " (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. )
- 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: LOTTERY AWARD <playlotteryoffice@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 12:24:07 +0100 (BST)
Subject: SEND YOUR DETAIL INFORMATION IMMEDIATELY
Dear Alhmanic Gerstegen,
Compliment of the day,i got your mail,i am your claim agent to the uk National Lottery,which you are a winner.The lottery Board has instruted me to make sure that the amount you have won gets to you as soon as possible ,before the expiration date.i was expecting you to fill your verification form ,but i was not impress by the mail you sent.no one has doubted the UK National Lottery Award.This award is approve by the Government of the United kingdom.So you are warn to keep your winning to your self so that no other person will have your batch and refrence number.So i want you confide in me so that your cheque can be delivered to you as soon as possible. always get in tourch me if you need any information.
A certificate of prize claims and some vital documents will be sent along side your winnings cheque.The documents to be sent are;
1.WINNING CERTIFICATE FROM BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY:
2.WINNERS CHEQUE:
3.CLEAR SOURCE OF FUNDS CERTIFICATES(C.S.F.C.):
4.ANTI-TERRORISM CERTIFICATES(A.T.C):
5.CERTIFICATES OF ORIGIN OF FUNDS(C.O.F.):
Thanks,
Peter Moore,
claim agent
For;uk Lottery Board
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Yahoo! Answers - Get better answers from someone who knows. Tryit now.
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Yahoo! Answers - Get better answers from someone who knows. Tryit now.
Anti-fraud resources:
