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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "international lottery programme" (no such lottery exists)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- 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: "Manager Foreign Operations" <info@facebook.co.in>
Reply-To: georgepaul@zing.vn
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 22:59:42 +0100
Subject: Facebook Lottery: Congratulations Lucky Winner!!!
Facebook Lottery Winning Notification
Congratulations Lucky Winner!!!
We are delighted to inform you of the result of the E-mail address ballot lottery draw of the Facebook International Lottery Programme, which took place on the 15th of November 2013. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 275-189 with Serial number FB56-05 drew the lucky numbers 11 13 26 and bonus ball number 06 which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$1.950 Million United States Dollar in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 47509/02.
Furthermore, your details (e-mail address) falls within our AFRICAN representative office in ACCRA, GHANA as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of US$1.950 Million will be released to you from the regional branch office ACCRA in GHANA. We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw. Our agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.
Your CLAIM DETAILS is as follow:
Reference: 76739900 | Batch: KTU 90902232| Winning no: KB1973 |Full name:_________| Telephone number:____________ |Fax number:_______ |Shiping address:_______ |Age:____________ |Occupation:___________
Simply contact your claims agent:
MR. GEORGE PAUL
PHONE NUMBER: (+233) 261 620 547
E-MAIL: promoclaim@cash4u.com
Note that, all winnings MUST be claimed by a STIPULATED TIME (ON OR BEFORE 26st November 2013) otherwise all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually be reabsorbed into our next lucky dip sweepstakes. Note that you have to call MR. GEORGE PAUL (+233) 261 620 547 before or after sending your listed information to him.
Dr. George P. SwierMr. Gerald Goodman
CEO: Mark Zuckerberg
Manager Foreign Operations
FACEBOOK NOTICE BOARD
Facebook © 2013 - Official Site
www.facebook.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
