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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")
- "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.
- +2348083553826 (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.
- kewelwright.shellnigeria@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Shell Award Promo" <shellpromoaward8@pravda.ru>
Reply-To: kewelwright.shellnigeria@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:31:44 +0100
Subject: SHELL PROMO AWARD!!! ($400.000.00)!!!
SHELL INTERNATIONAL LTD
SHELL FOUNDATION, NIGERIA SE1 7NA.
Dear Donation Beneficiary,
You were selected among the lucky recipients to receive the award sum of
US$400,000.00 (FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) as charity donations/aid from
the Shell Foundation Nigeria in accordance with the enabling act of
Parliament.
For further information and claim, Please contact your claims agent with the
below email address and your personal details such as:
1.) Full Name 2.) Contact Address 3.) Telephone Number(Both Mobile and
Home) 4.) Age,
Remember to quote these numbers, Winning Numbers: 1 2 26 30 40 21, Ref:
575061725, Batch: 8056490902/188 and cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 46704/08.
Contact Person: Mr. Kewell Wright(RCA)
Email: kewelwright.shellnigeria@yahoo.co.uk OR
mr.kewelwright@live.com
Phone: +234 808 355 3826
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. CONTACT MR. KEWEL WRIGHT YOUR LEGAL
CLAIMS AGENT VIA EMAIL OR PHONE .
Signed,
Shell Promo Inc.
Copyright 2000-2008 Shell Promo International.
Anti-fraud resources:
