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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:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "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.
- infocola2011@163.com (163; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "COCA-COLA ONLINE PROMOTION." (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2011 16:11:59 +0800
Subject: COCA-COLA ONLINE PROMOTION. CHINA ZONE
Dear Winner,
Your Email was luckily drawn by a computer balloting system as one of our winners in our Online lottery bonanza from the prestigious COCA-COLA ONLINE PROMOTION. CHINA ZONE Thus, making you the winner of the sum of 350,000.00GBP (Three Hundred & Fifty Thousand Great British Pounds Sterling?¡¥s).
Your e-mail addresses were from over 40 networks and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer selection from the web.
To proceed with your claims, you are advised to fill the verification form for payment given below and return back to us immediately.
Fill Out This Form Verification Form
1. Full Names:
2. Contact Address:
3. State:
4. Country of resident:
5. Nationality:
6. Age:
7. Sex:
8. Occupation:
9. Marital Status:
10.Winning Email
11. Your Mobile Number:
DECLARATION: I ___________________ _ HEREBY
DECLARE THAT THE ABOVE DATA ARE TRUE. THAT MY CLAIMS AGENT SHALL ACT AS A FACILITATOR IN THE TRANSFER OF THE TOTAL FUND TO ME.
CONTACT OF THE EVENT MANAGER.
CLAIM AGENT NAME : MR TONI CHEN
E-Mail: infocola2011@163.com
Sincerely yours,
MRS. LISA PASKER
COCA COLA GAMES/LOTTERY COORDINATOR
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Anti-fraud resources:
