|
|
joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
|
|
"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:
- "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- 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.
- infococacola.lindabenson@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Linda benson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <lindabenson97@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2018 16:16:41 -0700
Subject: Dear Lucky Winners, 89/21/117
Dear Lucky Winners,
Your e-mail has won you $2.5Million USA Dollar Only (Two Million Five Hundred Thousand USA Dollar) in this year 2018, Coca Cola Lottery. This is being conducted in collaborations with the UNITED NATION with the aim to reduce poverty around the globe.
The draw no.1526 brought out your e-mail address from a Data Base of Internet Email Users and qualified you a bonfire winner of the stated winning amount. Please use this money to bless other people around you by being generous. You have to always keep in touch with us on phone or emails, and always reply to every mail which we might send to you. This will enable us to process and make your transfer / Delivery successfully, provide the below stated information for processing of your claims.
Your winning prize has been verified and approved for payment by this Department
These Are Your Identification Numbers: Ref Number: 789/00HG99776
Series Number: 08-HJ/996-68HJ
Ticket Number KJ-IHGD767
Please Send Your Details As Required Below:
1. Name in full:
2. Home Address:
3. Age:
4. Sex:
5. Marital Status:
6. Occupation:
7. Direct Phone Number:
8. E-mail Address:
9. State:
10. City:
11. Present Country:
12. Any form of identification;
Please contact our claims Officer;
Linda Benson, (Claim Dept Director)
E-mail: infococacola.lindabenson@gmail.com
|
Anti-fraud resources:
