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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:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "hundred thousand great british pounds" (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)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- 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.
- +447045729767 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: Microsoft Award Team <info@microsoft.org>
Reply-To: tnt_postdelivery@london.ir
Date: Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:27:10 -0300
Subject: Dear lucky winner!!!
Microsoft Award Team
23 Craven Park, Harlesden
London NW10,United Kingdom
*************************
Dear lucky winner,
This is to inform you that your email has won a consulation prize of
the Microsoft Corporation EMAIL DRAW held 31th of July 2009. Your
email has won you (£500,000.00) (Five Hundred Thousand Great british
Pounds) and we have given our
affiliated courier company your check for delivery to get your prize delivered
to you please contact TNT Express Courier to claim your prize, Please contact
Mr.Tom Smith with your Reg order no: GX22589420.And contact
him via email immediately within 48hrs.
with the information below.
TNT Express Delivery Company United Kingdom
Mr. Tom Smith(Head Dispatch Officer)
Telephone Number: TEL: +44-704-572-9767
Email: tnt_postdelivery@london.ir
=====================================================
CERTIFICATE OF PRIZE CLAIM(Receipt Official Notification Letter)
=====================================================
1.Full Name:..............
2.Marital Status:..................
3.Occupation :..............
4.Age:...............
5.Sex:................
6.Nationality:...........
7.Tel:.............
8. Your Home Address...............
Note : you are going to be responsible for the delivery charges.
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This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/
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Anti-fraud resources:
