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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:
- "million pounds" (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!
Fraud email example:
From: "BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION (BBC)" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tonyburtoncbe146@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2017 03:56:14 +0100
Subject: Re:
BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION (BBC)
10- 17- 35- 41- 51- 54 BONUS 25
Visit Our Web Site
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lottery/
Sat 31 Dec 2016
Draw 2194
Jackpot: £ 26,293,902 Million Pounds
Your e-mail has won you £ 26,293,902 Million Pounds From BBC NATIONAL LOTTERY 2016 charity bonanza.
The draw No.BNL, 2194 brought out your e-mail address from a Data Base of Internet Email Users and qualified you a bonafied winner of the stated winning amount.
VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM.
1. Full Name's:-
2. Sex:-
3. Country:-
4. State/City:-
5. Contact Address:-
6. Mobile/Tel Number:-
7. Marital Status:-
8. Occupation:-
9. Date of Birth:-
10. Winning E-Mail:-
11. Amount Won:-
12. Have You Won Before: - Yes Or No: -
13. A Copy Of Your Personal Identity:-
*Yours Faithful.
Series Producer.....................................Peter Ainsworth.
Presenter..............................................Dr Astrid Bonfield.
Producer...............................................David Isaac CBE.
Director................................................Natalie Campbell.
Executive Producer................................Rachael Robathan.
*The Promotion Manager:Tony Burton CBE.
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Visit Our Web Site
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lottery/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
The National Lottery games on this website are promoted by Camelot UK Lotteries Limited under licence.
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Anti-fraud resources:
