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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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- 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.
- jonathan_oong1971@yahoo.co.jp (Yahoo, Japan; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.John Thomas" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jonathan_oong1971@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Wed, 9 May 2012 08:46:37 -0700
Subject: Winning Number: ECWS09788
Attention: Beneficiary
After the ECOWAS Office today,a raffle draw has given US$8.3 Million to three (3) active internet users. We are glad to announce to you that you were lucky to be one of the users who emerged as a Beneficiary with your WINNING NUMBER: ECWS09788 and your Fiducairy agent Mr. Jonathan Ong have been assigned to assist you in claiming your winnings fund as soon as possible and will be released to you in record time.
You are therefore to contact Mr. Jonathan Ong on the email address jonathan_oong1971@yahoo.co.jp) with the below information for quick release of your winning fund to you without delay.
1.Full Name.
2.Country.
3.Residential Address.
4.Phone, Mobile numbers.
5.Age/Sex.
6.Marital Status.
7.Occupation/Job title.
8.Winning Number:
DECLARATION:
I....................Hereby Declear that the above data are true in case of any unforseen circustance, my next of kin has the right to claim the total winnings. (Fiduciary agent shall act as my agent in facilitating the release of the total fund to me. DATE: ----------
Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!
Looking forward to your swift response.
Yours Faithfully,
Mr.John Thomas
Co-ordinator
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Anti-fraud resources: