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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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- 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.
- +2348035572468 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
- 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.
- davidwalcott1951@walla.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Cynthia Raman" <raman-cynthia3@mailbox.hu>
Reply-To: davidwalcott1951@walla.com
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 12:52:52 +0100
Subject: Dear Winner (Congratulations)
*Office of the Prize Administrator,
Primetime Foundation,
12 Piccadilly, Manchester, M60 2DB
United Kingdom*
From: Mrs. Cynthia Raman, Prize Administrator
Re: Notification of Winning/Prize Award.
*Batch Number: PWF/O3/TZFC/O8
Ref Number: 2007281522
Pin Number: 1209*
Dear Beneficiary,
Following the results of our annual Award/Grant draws concluded this month,
we are pleased to inform you, that your e-mail address drew lucky numbers
7-14-18-23-31 which won in the final category.
You are one of the 7 selected winners and you have been approved for a lump
sum pay out of $1,500,000.00 (One Million Five Hundred Thousand United
States Dollars Only)
You have fallen into our British commonwealth category region of Nigeria.
You are required to contact your claims agent immediately for the claim of
your fund. You are required to quote your winning numbers to him when you
contact him.
Kindly find his contact details below.
*Name of Agent: Reverend David Walcott
E-mail: davidwalcott1951@walla.com
Tel: +234 803 557 2468*
Keep your winning information confidential to avoid double claim.
Accept our sincere congratulations.
*Regards,
Mrs. Cynthia Raman
(Prize Administrator)*
=============================================================
Copyright (c) 1999-2008 Primetime Foundation. All rights reserved.
E&OE. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without
the expressed written permission of Primetime Foundation is
prohibited.
Anti-fraud resources:
