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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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "tanakamoyo328@yahoo.co.za" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "tanakamoyo328@yahoo.co.za" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs Doris McCarthy" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tanakamoyo328@yahoo.co.za>
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 19:25:36 +0100
Subject: Congratulations on your selection as one of the winners!!!!!
Dear Lucky winner,
Congratulations on your selection as one of the winners in the category 2 of the Visa 2014 FIFA World Cup Promotions for $742,000.00. The Visa 2014 FIFA World Cup Promotional Draw was selected randomly using the mobile registry and email addresses from all countries with high volumes of Visa Card presence irrespective of whether the winners are Visa clients or not.
It's a way of sharing the profits and giving back to Visa communities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Your winning prize falls under our Afro-American payment zone, South Africa which hosted the last FIFA World Cup in 2010.
Kindly contact your finicial agent with the following details with her private email address (tanakamoyo328@yahoo.co.za):
1. Your Winning Reference number that you received on the message:…………………
2. Your full names:……………………..
3. Your full contact address and Telephone number :…………………..
4. Your age:……………………..
5. Your occupation:………………….
6. Your identification document (scanned copy) of either drivers license or international passport:…..
We need these details to verify your winning in our system and as soon as we have a match, I will process the entry and pass it to our paying bankers to contact you and ask for your receiving banking details.
Note: Due to double claiming of prizes, you are strongly advised to keep your winning reference number confidential as we will not be liable for any wrong claims.
Congratulations and best regards,
NB:do not forget to contact your finicail agent with her private email adderess of this tanakamoyo328@yahoo.co.za in the person of Mrs Tanaka Moyo
Details of agent:
Dr. Mrs Doris McCarthy
Regional Claims Agent
Tel: +27 83 766 5134
Fax: +27 86 536 9750
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Anti-fraud resources:
