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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:
- "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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.
- southafricanreservebankremit@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Richard Micheal" <info@viaromana.nl>
Reply-To: southafricanreservebankremit@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 2016 20:28:24 +0100
Subject: Good News: Your Winning Identifications
Dear Email Owner/ Winner,
Congratulations: This is to inform you that your email address emerged as a Winner of an amount US$3,500,000.00 Dollars,
(Three Million five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in the RIO 2016 SUMMER OLYMPICS GAME PROMOTION Draw held in
Johannesburg South Africa through an open Computer ballot JAVA System. This Promotional Lottery Draws sponsored by the
National Lottery of Brazil, Microsoft and Coca Cola to support the coming RIO 2016 SUMMER OLYMPICS GAME.
All participants’ email ID was automatically entered in the draw as Microsoft Collected all the valid and active email
users globally for this promotion. Your email ID attached to Reference Number: WCD80010011 was luckily drawn to win you the
prize in the category ''A''. Therefore a Pin Number has been issued for you to claim your prize. Pin code: 00357721.
CLAIM & PAYMENT OF PRIZE
Kindly contact The (South African Reserve Bank) Funds Remittance Dept with the below contact details as to enable (Dr.
Steven Richard) to facilitate the release of your fund to you.
Contact: Dr. Steven Richard.
Director Funds Remittance Dept.
(South African Reserve Bank)
Contact Email: southafricanreservebankremit@gmail.com
Direct Office Number: +27-631-238-838
Mobile Number: +27- 866-148-371
You are advised to send him your correct and valid details as stated below:
1. Full Name:
2. Address:
3. Age:
4. Occupation:
5. Mobile Number:
6. Your Winning Identifications Number: BATCH NUMBER: RIO/16/OLY43658
REFERENCE NUMBER: RIO80010011
PIN CODE: 00357721
Send the above information to submit your claim. You should only contact the above mentioned banker (Dr. Steven Ricihard)
whom shall direct you on how to receive your prize money. Please keep your winning Identifications Numbers confidential to
avoid double claim. Congratulations once again.
Mrs. Alletta Jacobs
WINNING NOTIFICATION OFFICER
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