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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:
- "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "facebookwatchteamusa@outlook.com" (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!
Fraud email example:
From: "PONG LEE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <atmdepartment64@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2015 11:53:25 -0700
Subject: FACE BOOK ONLINE LOTTERY PROGRAM 2015
FACE BOOK ONLINE LOTTERY PROGRAM 2015
FROM: THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT.
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD.
BATCH NUMBER: 2551236002/244
SERIAL NUMBER. 55643451907
TICKET NUMBER: 5647600545189
CATEGORY: 2nd
ATTN:Lucky Winner
You have been selected as one (1) of (15) winners in this
months Face-book online splash promo selected from all
regions by our internet processing unit. Our fifteen (15)
winners have been selected from five continents currently
connected to the Face book network LONDON UNITED KINGDOM.
Award Attached to ticket number (5647600545189) and
ballot number (BLT: 12052006/20).
Your User name as the 5th beneficiary in this promo was
chosen at random by our Digital Random Internet Processing
Service Asia Pacific (D.R.I.P.S) and your reward is coming
from the interests generated from advertising and copyrights
from the Face book network LONDON. Congratulations once
again from Face book, You are entitled to a surprise package
worth the sum of $500,000. ( five hundred and
thousand dollars Only).
Contact Our LONDON DISTRICT Online Coordinator directly
with the below information;
Mr. Pong Lee
Email:facebookwatchteamusa@outlook.com
FULL NAME: ......................
CONTACT ADDRESS/NOT Po BOX:......
PHONE NUMBER:....................
COUNTRY/NATIONALITY:.............
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS:..............
TICKET NUMBER :...(5647600545189)
BALLOT NUMBER:....(BLT: 12052006/20)
Do not disclose this to any one on till you claim your price
for security reasons.we have had cases where the last
winners complain of someone else claiming their prices.
Mrs.Caroline Strange
Fiduciary Agent Face-Book Team.
Face book ? 2015 ? English (US)
About ? Advertising ? Developers ? Careers ? Privacy ? Terms ? Help
APPROVED AND SIGNED By
MR MARK ZUCKERBERG CEO FACEBOOK TEAM
Thanks,
Regards,
Patrick Widen
Promo Coordinator.Promo Coordinator
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Anti-fraud resources:
