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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.
- 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:
- ",000,000" (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)
- 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.
- 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.
- sponsornl@mail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Sponsor lotterij NL" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sponsornl@mail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:58:29 +0200
Subject: HELLO!!!!!!
VriendenLoterij
Van Eeghenstraat 70
1071GK Amsterdam.KvK 41126395
0900-300 1400.
Attention: Winner.
We are please to inform you of the approved and certified result of our
Free (Online) Sweepstakes program that was conducted on the 18 day of
November 2011. This e-mail address which was extracted among other
e-mail addresses from the Internet Search Directories and entered into a
Free Online Sweepstakes program with a File Serial Number:
DLT-69140/011SL, has won you the email address owner cash prize money of
3,000,000 Only (Three Million Euro Only). You can
claim this approved funds only by contacting our payment release
department through the below stated details.
Sponsor lotterij NL
(Payment Department).
Fax:+31 84 7207620
Tel: +31-619280677.
Email:sponsornl@mail.com
This lottery program was conducted by us through the assistance of our
Insurance Partner’s as a Goodwill Gesture and it was an email addresses
free online sweepstakes program. Your winning funds have to be claimed
within 28days of your receipt of this message. See below are the required
details which you have to send to our payment department now for the
claiming of your winning funds.
1). Complete Full Names:
2). Residential Address:
3). Occupation:
4). Phone/Fax Numbers:
Congratulations and happy spending in advance.
Sincerely yours,
Mr.Jeroen Branderhorst
(Programs Coordinator)
Sponsor (Online Sweepstake).
Copyright (c) 2010
http://www.Sponsorlotterij.nl
Disclaimer:
This is a promotional lottery winning and winner’s emerge by luck and you
do not need to purchase a ticket before entering this sweepstakes. If you
decide not to claim this winning fund, kindly delete this message and
ignore it’s request because it is a criminal offense to distribute it
content without written permission from us.
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Anti-fraud resources:
