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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- 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.
- wrightdavid2011@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Wright David" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <wrightdavid2011@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2011 04:24:50 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATION !!!
2022 FIFA World Cup bidding
From The Desk of Mr. Denny Robert
Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid Email Promotion
Attn: Dear Lucky Winner,
Your is: BATCH NUMBER: 2022 QAFI22/UNFOQ
Your PIN: 50031
This is to inform you that you have won prize money of GBP£1.5.M) for this New Year prize promotion which is organized by Qatar bidding committee (Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup Bid Campaign) through collective email of the people that are active with their email, among the millions of subscribers and E-mail Draw select one million E-mail Address as part of the Qatar 2018 Bid Campaign Award Promotion. Qatar initiative to draw support worldwide for Qatar FIFA 2022 world cup bid and this program is only to those residing outside the Qatar and inside the country. 2 people are selected monthly to benefit from this promotion and you are one of the selected Winners.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Keep your winning information confidential until you have received your winning prize to avoid double claiming. The deposited cash prize with BANK IN LONDON” has been insured by the organizer before the funds will be transferred. Fill in your online application correctly in bold letters and email it, to us immediately you receive it so that we can proceed with the required claim process. You are requested to contact our fiduciary Claims Agent, Mr.Wright David in London. And have to send your winning identification numbers to him;
Name: Mr.Wright David
E-mail: Wrightdavid2011@hotmail.com
You are advised to send the following information’s to your agent to facilitate the release of your winning
BATCH NUMBER:
YOU’RE WINNING E-MAIL:
PIN:
FULL NAMES:
ADDRESS
PHONE:/FAX:
SEX:
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
NATIONALITY
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
At your disposal, I remain.
Yours in service,
Mr. Denny Robert
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Anti-fraud resources:
