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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims 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)
- 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.
- +447045702804 (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.
- edwardsmith_claimsdepartment10@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: MICROSOFT AWARD PROMOTION TEAM<edwardsmith_claimsdepartment10@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:19:20 +1200
Subject: FINAL WINNING NOTIFICATION
Microsoft Award Promotion Team
20 Craven Park, Harlesden London NW10,
United Kingdom.
Ref: BTD/978/08
Batch: 409978E
Dear Lucky winner,
WINNING NOTIFICATION
This email is to inform you that you emerged a winner in the Microsoft Corporation NEW YEAR EMAIL DRAW. The selections
was made through a computer email draw system attaching personalised email addresses to Batch numbers.Your Batch
numbers:409978E which drew the lucky numbers 14-21-25-39-40-47(20)and subsequently won you the total sum of
1,000,000.00GBPs.To claim your prize,FILL the form below completely and send it to your assigned claims agent VIA
EMAIL:::edwardsmith_claimsdepartment10@hotmail.com
(1).FULLNAMES...
(2)ADDRESS....
(3)OCCUPATION....
(4)SEX....
(5)AGE....
(6)COUNTRY....
(7)MARITAL STATUS....
(8)ANNUAL INCOME....
(9)LUCKY NO....
(10)BATCH NO....
(11)AMOUNT WON....
(12)TELEPHONE....
(13)EMAIL..
Contact the stated agent immediately to proceed with your claims
Mr. EDWARD SMITH
Head,Overseas Winning Claims Unit
E-Mail:: edwardsmith_claimsdepartment10@hotmail.com
TEL..+44 704 570 2804
Sincerely,
Dr.Olivia Richards
Online Lottery Coordinator
Anti-fraud resources:
