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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:
- "bcc-claims@cc.tc" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: BBC ONE LOTTERY <richie.le-catequista@rogers.com>
Reply-To: bcc-claims@cc.tc
Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 15:53:25 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Dear Winner
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lottery/
May 2010 draw no. 1498
winning numbers 06 15 28 29 30 47 BONUS 19
Dear Winner.
Your e-mail has won you £750,000.00 GBP from BBC ONE LOTTERY
on our 2010 charity bonanza.The draw no.942 braught out your
e-mail address from a Data Base of Internet Email Users and
qualified you a bonafied winner of the stated winning amount.
You are to contact us via e-mail providing the below stated
information for process of claims.
(1)Name...(2)Address...(3)Mobile No....(4)Sex...(5)Occupation...
Claims Manager
Mr.Anthony Chris
E-mail: bcc-claims@cc.tc
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lottery/
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Anti-fraud resources: