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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.
- 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: Perrier Sparkling Lottery <noreply@perrier-plc.com>
Reply-To: contact@perrier-plc.com
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2015 02:40:41 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATION WINNER
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws of Perrier Sparkling Lottery Inc program. Perrier Sparkling Lottery Inc draws was conducted on-line by an automated random computer ballot search from the Internet. No tickets were sold.
This draw is conducted annually. After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address attached to serial number 09-11-11 drew the lucky number 11-13-25-28-49-5, which consequently emerged as our only winner in the United Nations Booklet
You been approved for a lump prize o of $870,000.00 (EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS) in cash credited to File Number LFDJL/08/8007. Your funds are now deposited in an offshore bank with a hardcover insurance.
To claim your prize, please contact our payment officer with the information below.
PERRIER SPARKLING LOTTERY INC
INFORMATION AND PAYMENT BUREAU:
WASHINGTON D.C
Tel : +1 435 339 1540
Fax: +1 435 339 1540
Email: contact@perrier-plc.com
You will be assisted with the remittance of your prize funds to your designated bank account.
Congratulations once again from all members and staff of the Perrier Sparkling Lottery Inc and thanks for been part of our program.
Sincerely,
Gibson Hawk-Jump
Chief Executive Officer
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Anti-fraud resources:
