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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- 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!
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
- 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.
- +447024097234 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- officeforclaims_harryb07@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: UK NATIONAL LOTTERY <faxophone@email.it>
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:48:17 +0100
Subject: Notification Letter
--
United Kingdom National Lottery,
2 Lansdowne Row, Berkeley Square,
London, W1J 6H,
United Kingdom.
Daily Draw results:
We happily announce to you the Draw (#942) of the BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY,
online British National Lottery program held on 15th January , 2008 . Your
e-mail address attached to
Ticket Number: 8603775966738
withSerial number 5368/02
drew the Winning numbers: 03,07,12,21,25,36
(bonus no.24),which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e
match 3 plus bonus. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
£1,000,000.00 (One Million pound Sterling) in cash credited to your file.
You are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your
claim is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you
deem fit to claim your prize. To file for your claim,Please contact our
Fiduciary Agent for
VALIDATION.
Barrister Harry Byran.
FIDUCIARY AGENT, Payment and Release order
Email: officeforclaims_harryb07@yahoo.co.uk
Tel :+447024097234
Endeavour to email them the following informations for
immediate
processing.
Full! Name:
Telephone:
Mobile:
Amount Won:
REF NUMBER:.
BATCH NUMBER:
WINNING NUMBER:
TICKET.NUMBER:
--
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Anti-fraud resources:
