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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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "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)
- 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!
Fraud email example:
From: "PEPSI DESK REPORT" <info@pepsi.com>
Reply-To: pepsidesk_dpt@qatar.io
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2010 04:26:53 -0500
Subject: PEPSI LUCKY DRAWS RESULT !!!!
We are happy to inform you that you have just won our monthly PEPSI DRAWS of One
Million, Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds Sterling. Note that your email
address was selected via our computer draws held today. Your File number attached to
your ticket is PEP00934/UK.Kindly fillout the claims verification form below and
forward the details to your claims agent below:
Claims Verification Form Below
1. Your Full Names:
2. Address:
3. Telephone and Fax Numbers:
4. Occupation:
5. Reference Number
6. How often do you drink Pepsi:
Claims Agent
Name: Mrs CHERRY RINGS
Email: pepsidesk_dpt@qatar.io
Best Regards,
Willie Adams
PepsiCo United Kingdom
__________________________________________________________________________
NOTA DE DESCARGO: La información contenida en este e-mail es confidencial y
sólo puede ser utilizada por su destinatario. INEN - Ecuador no asume
responsabilidad sobre información y opiniones o criterios contenidos
en este e-mail.
_________________________________________________________________________
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Este mensaje ha sido analizado por DRAGON MAILProtect
en busca de virus y otros contenidos peligrosos,
y se considera que esta limpio.
(txt)
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Anti-fraud resources:
