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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million united states dollars" (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)
- "million dollars" (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)
- "keep this confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a 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!
- 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.
- catholicaidslaitycouncil@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: catholicaids laitycouncil <catholicaidslaitycouncil22@gmail.com>
Date: 27 May 2011 04:01:48 -0500
Subject: COUNCIL CASH GRANT 2011.
RE - CATHOLIC AIDS COUNCIL CASH GRANT 2011.
Dear Winner ,
This is to notify you that your email address have been chosen today By the Board of Trustees of the Catholic Aids Laity Council of the United states of America and Europe as one of the final Recipients of a Cash Grant / Donation for Poverty Alleviation and Economic empowerment scheme .
In line with the 28 years Anniversary program , the Catholic Aids Laity Council of the United States of America and Europe in conjunction with the European Council is giving out One Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars as specific Donations / Grants to 25 lucky recipients worldwide in different categories of human endeavors in commemoration of her Anniversary.
Our lucky beneficiaries who did not need to purchase a raffle / lottery tickets were selected based on an internet random selection exercise from where you were selected and confirmed as one of the lucky winners/recipients and are entitled to USD$ 6 Million ( Six Hundred Million United States Dollars ) as charity donations / Aid from this Council.
To facilitate the release of this funds to you , please fill and send back information required 1-10 below .
1. Your Name
2. Date of Birth.
3. Age
4. Country of Residence
5. Mailing Address
6. Mode of Payment {WIRE TRANSFER , CASH PAYMENT OR ONLINE TRANSFER}
7. A scanned copy of your driver’s license or passport or ID or any
Other form of identification
8. Qualification numbers:
9. Tel And Fax Numbers
10. Occupation.
To avoid the incidence of impersonation, fraud and double claims , it is our advice that you keep this confidential at least for now until you have received the funds.
Your response is therefore expected as soon as possible to enable this council process and authenticate your application for recommendation to our accredited bankers who will RELEASE the funds to you based on your preferred/chosen option for the payment.
Endeavor to reply to this email - catholicaidslaitycouncil@yahoo.co.uk
On behalf of the Catholic Aids Laity Council .
Kindly accept our warmest congratulations!
Yours faithfully,
REV. DR. THOMAS MAR EUSEBIUS.
CATHOLIC AIDS LAITY COUNCIL.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND EUROPE ARCHDIOCESES.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CENTRAL ZONAL OFFICE.
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Anti-fraud resources:
