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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")
- "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- ",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)
- 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.
- 2014endofyearpromoresults@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "The Intel Inside & Gmail Group ." <rafael@dbureau.com.mx>
Reply-To: 2014endofyearpromoresults@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 23:20:49 -0600
Subject: Your Online Ticket Number INTEL-189-209-847.
Dear Winner
We are glad to inform you that you have won the sum of £1,000,000GBP (One
Million Great Britain Pound Sterling) in The Intel Inside & Gmail Group in
collaboration with the Euro Millions Millionaire to aid the use of Intel
Processor Worldwide and this Prize is given out randomly to worldwide
individuals, for their personal business development and enhancement of
their educational plans.
Your Online Ticket Number INTEL-189-209-847.
Kindly keep your ticket number confidential to avoid double claim of prize
amount due to our past experience. Find below link of our winners who have
not claimed their prize and you are expected to claim your prize
immediately without further delay.
The objective is to make a notable change in the standard of living of
people all around the Universe (From America to Europe, Asia to Africa and
all around) like in the next 20years. Your email was electronically
selected as a winner in this 1ST Annual Draw. In order to claim, contact
the claims officer via the email address below with the following
information’s:
Name:
Contact Address:
Country:
Mobile Number:
Age:
Occupation:
Mr. James Nachtwey
(Fiduciary Agent)
Email: 2014endofyearpromoresults@gmail.com
Intel Inside & Gmail Group.
NOTE: For future communication, kindly check your Inbox & Spam folder for
regular update concerning winning prize release.
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Anti-fraud resources:
