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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:
- "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- 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.
- barr-russellbrown@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From:
Reply-To: barr-russellbrown@hotmail.com
Date:
Subject: Your Qualification numbers (N-222-6647, E-910-56)
THE RUSSIAN FOUNDATION FOR BASIC RESEARCH
The Russian Foundation for basic research would like to notify you that
you have been chosen by the board of trustees as one of the final
recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your own
personal, educational, and business development.
Kindly note that you will only be chosen to receive the donation
once,which means that subsequent yearly donation will not get to you
again.Take time and thought in spending the donation wisely on something
that will last you a long time. Recipients are only eligible to be awarded
this donation once.You are required to contact the Executive Secretary
below, for qualification document you will be given your donation pin number
which you will use in collecting the funds. Please endeavor to quote
your Qualification numbers (N-222-6647, E-910-56) in all discussions.
You are required to assist in the documentation of your donation by
filling the requested information stated in the form below.
DONATION DOCUMENTATION FORM.
Kindly provide all required information.
FULL NAMES______________
ADDRESS_______________
NATIONALITY_______________
STATE__________________
COUNTRY______________
TEL_______________
FAX_________________
AGE/DATE OFBIRTH______________
SEX___________________
MARITAL STATUS______________
OCCUPATION_____________
IN A BRIEF EXPLANATION, HOW DO YOU INTEND TO USE YOUR DONATIION IN
IMPROVING YOUR STANDARD OF LIVING.
Executive Sec. Barr.Russell Brown
Email:barr-russellbrown@hotmail.com
Regards.
Miss.Andjella Anzhela
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Anti-fraud resources:
