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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:
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "bmwfoundsreleasedept@w.cn" (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: "Bmw Automobile" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <foundsclaims_dept@w.cn>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:03:57 +0530
Subject: Antt....
Dear Winner,
This is to inform that you have just won a brand new BMW 5 Series, M Sport Saloon car and a cash prize of £500,000.00 in the satellite software email lottery. On line Sweepstakes International program held on October 2011. Conducted by BMW LOTTERY BOARD in which your e-mail address was picked randomly by software powered by the Internet.
Contact:Mr Jackson Lordrick.For Claims
E_mail:(bmwfoundsreleasedept@w.cn)
Serial No: BMWP/556543450906 and Ref No:BMW:2551256003/23/tagged ticket No: 5647600545188.
Forward the following details to enable us clear your file for
immediate payment and delivery of your winnings:
(1) Your Full Name.........................
(2) Address................................
(3) Mobile And Fax Number..................
(4) Sex And Occupation.....................
(5) Date Of Birth/Nationality..............
We Congratulate you once more...
Regards,
Mr. Carl Robbison.
Promo Co-coordinator.
BMW Automobile Company.
For security reasons, we advised that you keep your winning information confidential until you claim your prize money. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Be warned!
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Anti-fraud resources:
