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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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- 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.
- drkennedy.rhyma@mail.ru (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "ATM PAYMENT DEPARTMENT" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ubarokelvin@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2012 03:57:35 -0500
Subject: FACEBOOK REWARD PROMO5
CONGRATULATION!!!
FACEBOOK MEGA REWARD PROMO
DATE: 20th OF OCTOBER, 2012
WINNING NUMBER: U45639GHs
BATCH NUMBER: JK7635467J
REF NUMBER: 767889976
DEAR LUCKY WINNER,
This is to inform you that your Facebook Account as make you emerge winner in this year FACEBOOK MEGA REWARD PROMO, this promo comes up once in every year by Facebook and Twenty thousand dollars is been given out to the user of Facebook around the globe and it's usually selected randomly through electronic machine. Your Facebook account has make you winner of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars and you are among the lucky people who will benefit from our FACEBOOK MEGA REWARD PROMO this year so feel free to contact our Fiduciary Agent with your information below for your claim:
YOUR FULL NAME:
YOUR HOUSE ADDRESS:
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS:
YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER:
YOUR AGE, SEX AND OCCUPATION
CITY :
State:
Country:
Zip code:
He will issue a cheque of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars and immediately you receive your cheque it's cashable in any international banks in the world because it's an international certified bank cheque.
Below is the Fiduciary Agent contact information
CONTACT NAME: DR KENNEDY RHYMA
CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS:drkennedy.rhyma@mail.ru
Kindly send him your information for the claim of your winning and make sure you use your winning number as the subject to avoid delay of your claim. Keep this winning to yourself until you have successfully receive your cheque and cash your fund.
Best Regard's
Mrs Sarah Moses
Facebook Promo Coordinator
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Anti-fraud resources:
