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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:
- "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "mitcheltylerfacebookdept002@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!
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447045734329 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: FACE BOOK PROMOTION TEAM <info@mincom.gov.az>
Reply-To: mitcheltylerfacebookdept002@live.co.uk
Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 09:03:02 +0500
Subject: FACEBOOK NOTIFICATION !
--
Congratulation! Congratulation! Congratulation!
Dear: Beneficiary !
This is to officially inform you that you have been selected as one (1) of
(15) winners in this months Face book online splash promo selected from The
Europe region by our internet processing unit. Our fifteen (15) winners
have been selected from five continents currently connected to the Face
book network UNITED KINGDOM. Award Attached to ticket number
(5647600545189) and ballot number (BT: 12052006/20).
Your User name as the 5th beneficiary in this promo was chosen at random by
our Digital Random Internet Processing Service Europe Pacific (D.R.I.P.S)
and your reward is coming from the interests generated from advertising and
copyrights from the Face book network UK. Congratulations once again from
Face book, You are entitled to a surprise package worth the sum of
£250,000. ( Two Hundred & Fifty Thousand Pounds starlings’ GBP). Contact
Our UK DISTRICT Online Coordinator directly with the below information; You
are also expected to call the zonal claims officer to confirm your winning
and kindly forward all required information as given below.
Contact our claims processing / verification office with the below
information so we can deliver your winning prize to your door step with
courier service of your choice.
FULL NAME: .............................
EMAIL:...........................
CONTACT ADDRESS/NOT Po BOX:.............
PHONE NUMBER:...........................
COUNTRY/NATIONALITY:....................
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS:.....................
TICKET NUMBER :.........................
BALLOT NUMBER:..........................
HOW DO YOU FEEL AS A WINNER?
NOTE : YOU ARE TO SEND YOUR RESPONSE TO THE E-MAIL ADDRESS BELOW:
Contact Name: Mr.MITCHEL TYLER
Contact Email: mitcheltylerfacebookdept002@live.co.uk
Contact Tel: +447-045-734329
WARNING! Do not tell or disclose to people about your Prize Award until
your money is successfully handed over to you to avoid disqualification
that may arise from double claim. You may also receive similar e-mails from
people portraying to be other Organizations or face-book! Inc. This is
solely
to collect your personal information from you and lay claim over your
winning. In event that you receive any e-mail similar to the notification
letter that was sent to you, Kindly delete it from your mail box and give
no further correspondence to such person or body.Yahoo!shall not be held
responsible for any loss of fund arising from the above mentioned.
Congratulation once again !
Facebook Promotion Team
Copyright © 2004-2011
UK ONLINE DISTRICT...
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