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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "mr-jamesbrown1@live.co.uk" (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: UK NATIONAL LOTTERY 2011 <uknationallottery@netmadeira.com>
Date: Mon, 16 May 2011 03:29:24 +0100
Subject: Ref: UKNL-L/200-26937
ATTENTION: WINNER
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash prize of 800,000,00 (Eight Hundred
Thousand (British Pounds) and this promotion was held in LONDON UK,The Selection was carried out
through a Computer Random Selection System and your email address came out as one of the Three
Lucky Winners.
Contact our fiduciary agent for claims with:
Agents Name: Mr.James Brown
Email:mr-jamesbrown1@live.co.uk
Fill the below details"
1. Name:
2. Address
3. Marital Status:
4. Occupation:
5. Age:
6. Sex:
7. Nationality:
8. Country of Residence:
9. Telephone Number:
10.Amount won:
Your''''''''s Sincerely
Anna Martin
Online Co-ordinator
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Anti-fraud resources:
