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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.
- 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)
- 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.
- 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.
- daveheathz@fsmail.net (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "MICROSOFT AWARDS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <daveheathz@fsmail.net>
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:54:32 -0000
Subject: Winning Notofication From Microsoft Awards Center
Microsoft Awards Center
124 Stockport Road, Long sight,
Manchester M61 2DB - United Kingdom
Tel: +44 131-208-4420
Fax: +44 870-479-1443
daveheathz@fsmail.net
Dear Prize Winner
We're euphoric to inform you that your email address has won an Award of Four Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds (400,000.00 GBP) for the 2010 New year Prize promotion organized by MICROSOFT.
PAYMENT OF PRIZE / CLAIMS
Yahoo & Windows Live Award must be claimed not later than 30 days from date of Draw Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be forfeited as unclaimed prizes.
Stated below is your Award File Information:
BATCH NUMBER: MFI/013/APA-43645
REFERENCE NUMBER: 2608312500
PIN: 1611
You are required to send your personal details along with your Award File Information to the programme Assistant Award
Coordinator in the format below. These informations are need to prepare your winning certificate only.
1. Full name:
2. Country:
3. Contact Address:
4. Telephone Number:
5. Marital Status:
6. Occupation:
7. Sex:
8. Date of Birth/Age:
9. Email Address:
Assistant Award Coordinator: Mr. Bratan Petko
Tel: +44 131-208-4420
Fax: +44 870-479-1443
daveheathz@fsmail.net
Congratulations!! On your winning,
Sincerely Yours,
Neola Wilmington
Notification Officer
Winning Notification From Microsoft Awards Centre
NB: Do not reply if you are NOT the intended recipient or owner of this email address; Disregard this notification if you have been notified before.
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Yahoo and Msn Awards Team will not be held liable for any loss of funds arising from the above mentioned.
In event that you receive any e-mail similar to the notification letter that was sent to you, kindly delete it
from your mail box and give no further correspondence to such person or body.
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Anti-fraud resources:
