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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "yahoo lottery inc" (no such lottery exists)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- ",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)
- "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)
- 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.
- drpwilliams1@hotmail.com (Hotmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "YAHOO/MSN AWARD 2011" (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:46:50 +0530
Subject: YAHOO/MSN END OF THE YEAR PROMO!!! 2011
FROM: THE DESK OF THE E-MAIL PROMOTIONS MANAGER INERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE
AWARD DEPARTMENT, YAHOO/ MSN CORPORATION.YAHOO MSN/LOTTERY
INCORPORATION 119 GLOUCESTER PLACELONDON UNITED KINGDOM.
====================================
Ref: XYL /26510460037/05
Batch: 24/00319/IPD
Winning number: YM/09788/60
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
This is to inform you that your E-MAIL ADDRESS has BEEN
AWARDED of One Million Great Britain Pounds Starling (£1,000,000.00GBP) in the
ongoing Annual Lottery promotion which was organized by MSN/YAHOO LOTTERY INC
LIVE.
Awards MUST be claimed by the E-MAIL owner ONLY, not lEter
than 3 weeks from the day of notification.
These are your identification numbers:
Ref: XYL /26510460037/05
Batch: 24/00319/IPD
Winning number:
YM/09788/60
Send your complete personal information with your Award Ref.
and Winning no. to us to enable us process your claim.
1. Full name
2. Contact Address:
..
3. Age :
..
4. Mobile Number :
..
5. Marital Status :
..
6. Sex :
..
7. Occupation :
..
8. Country :
..
9. State :
..
10. Your Email :
11. Your Reference
and Batch number are at the top Of this mail: XYL/26510460037/05 AND BATCH
NO.24/00319/IPD
CONTACT EVENT MANAGER
DR PEDRO WILLIAMS
E-Mail: drpwilliams1@hotmail.com
Telephone: 00447031881597
congratulations Once again...
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Anti-fraud resources: