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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 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)
- 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: "Mr. Daniel Luis" <chisomduru2@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Mr. Daniel Luis" <dluis62@ymail.com>, INVALID_ADDRESS@.SYNTAX-ERROR
Date: Wed, 3 May 2017 11:21:15 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Attention.
Attention.
This is to officially inform you that your Email ID has being picked as the one
of the lucky winner in European Enterprise Promotion Award, 2017 so you are
instructed to contact the manager in charge for the processing of your payment
Mr. Daniel Luis contact him now with your information for the payment of your
winning price of $1.5 Million dollars, Below is the information needed
from you
(1.) Full Name:..................
(2.) House Address:..............
(3.) Sex:......................
(4.) Occupation:.................
(5.) Phone Number:...............
(6.) Country:....................
(7.) Age:........................
(8.) Your ID or valid passport copy.
This is to prove your winning Ticket Number; UKBF14 4231 95606541 033,)
you should inform me immediately the paying Bank transfer your winning fund
$1.5 Million dollars to your destination Bank account in your country for
official record in this office because others have already received their funds
since last month ego for your urgent notice now good luck.
Thanks for your maximum co-operation.
Sincerely,
Mr. Daniel Luis.
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Anti-fraud resources:
