|
|
joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
|
|
"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:
- "ernestanderson@discuz.org" (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!
Fraud email example:
From: "Dubai e_lotto program" <info@dubaie_lottoprogram.creative1995.com>
Reply-To: ernestanderson@discuz.org
Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 04:14:59 +0100 (BST)
Subject: YOU HAVE WON!!
Dear E-mail User
Congratulations!! Your E-mail address has emerged winner of the lump sum
payout
of US$720,000.00 (Seven Hundred And Twenty Thousand United States Dollars)
from
the EMIRATES E-Lotto Internet Promotion Draws
This Online Program is jointly Sponsored By DUBAI E-GROUP and the EMIRATES
FOUNDATION DUBAI, United Arab Emirates. To acknowledge the receipt of this E-
mail and for further instruction, PLEASE CONTACT your claims administartor
below:
Name:Ernest Anderson
Email : ernestanderson@discuz.org
Do email the above Claims Administrator at once with these Claims
Requirements;
1. Full Name:
2. Address:
3. Nationality:
4. Age:
5. Occupation:
6. Phone: Fax:
7. State of Origin : Country:
8. Sex:
9. Winning Email Address:
Congratulations once again from all our staff for being a part of our
program.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Ahmed Abdallah Nuru.
Head Customer Care Service.
Copyright © 2010 Dubai E-lotto Group.
|
Anti-fraud resources:
