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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:
- "fiduciary 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)
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "ecowasclaimorg@yahoo.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- 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.
- +2348054393851 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
Fraud email example:
From: "Ecowas Donation 2009" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ecowasclaimorg@yahoo.cn>
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:43:47 +0100
Subject: Dear Consolation Prize Winner
Ecowas Donations 2009
101 Yakubu Gowon Cresent
Asokoro District P.M.B. 401
Abuja, Nigeria.
Congratulations as we inform you that your e-mail address emerged as one of the successful chosen reciepient of
$1,000,000.00 United States Dollars.
Your e-mail address was chosen using computer balloting. Here are your Identification Numbers below:
Batch number.....................ECW09102XN
Reff number.......................ECW35447XN
Winning number...................ECW09788
You are to contact your Fiduciary Agent via email for remittance
_________________________________________________________
Officer Name: Dr.Walam Jackson
Email: ecowasclaimorg@yahoo.cn
Phone: +2348054393851
_________________________________________________________
Below is the claims and verifications form. You are expected to fill
and return it immediately so we can start Processing your claims:
1. Full Names:
2. Residential Address:
3. Direct Phone No:
4. Fax Number
5. Occupation:
6. Sex:
7. Age:
8. Nationality:
9. Occupation:
10 Annual Income
we wish you the best of luck as you spend your good fortune.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Lissa Walter
Ecowas Donation Team
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Anti-fraud resources:
