|
|
joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
|
|
"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:
- "irish lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- 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 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.
- irish1771@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Irish National Lottery" <info@irish.net>
Reply-To: Irish National Lottery <irish1771@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:16:21 +0300
Subject: Attn: You Are A Winner!!!..
Irish Lottery
UNITED KINGDOM.
DATED: 7 September, 2008
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Dear Winner,
We are pleased to announce to you the draw of the IRISH
LOTTERY PROGRAMME online Sweepstakes International
Program held onSaturday 06 September 2008 .Your e-mail address
attached to the below info:
Lucky Numbers: 08, 17, 30, 33, 36, 43, Bonus 42
Total Prize Won: 900,000 euros
To file for claim, fill out the short questionnaire and contact
our claims agent on the details below:
Orlando Park (Mr)
Reply to Email: irish1771@gmail.com
QUESTIONAIRE
1. Full Names:
2. Age:
3. Telephone Number:
4. Contact Address:
5. Occupation:
Sincerely
Alex Harrison.
NB: Please send all reply to irish1771@gmail.com
Anti-fraud resources:
