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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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "mrbensonmilton011@live.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!
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +448709454554 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- 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.
- mrbensonmilton011@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Shell Lotto" <alert@mail.com>
Reply-To: mrbensonmilton011@gmail.com
Date: 16 Aug 2018 11:59:00 -0700
Subject: Re: Attention
Dear Sir
FYI..........
Final Award Notification!!!
This is to inform you that your Email Address have emerged among
the winner of the Shell Lottery Award Program this end of the
year Promo sponsored by the Shell International Oil and Gas
United Kingdom. You have been approved to claim the total sum of
GBP 980,000.00 ( NINE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THOUSAND BRITISH POUNDS
STERLING) from our claims agent Mr Benson Milton. Your email
address was obtained from an electronic selection of all
Engineering Company Emails round the globe and was attached to a
lucky ticket which has made you the winner of the 2016/2017 Shell
Lottery Draw. Therefore to receive your Payment amount, you are
required to send the following through e-mail to Mr Benson Milton
your claims with the details stated below:
Contact Agent Name: Mr. Benson Milton
Email Address: mrbensonmilton011@live.com
mrbensonmilton011@gmail.com
Phone Number: +448709454554
First Name:
Last Name:
Address:
Contact Number:
Sex:
Occupation
Date Of Birth:
Winning numbers (1 6 9 90 46 93 7)
He shall direct you on how to receive your prize. You are
therefore advised to contact him as soon as you receive this
notification to avoid delay as you are the only winner left to
claim the fund.
Best Wishes,
Mrs. Karen Richardson
(Publicity Announcing Officer)
Shell Promotion Department
Dispatch Center.49 Brussel Grove.
London NWI6DS United Kingdom.
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Anti-fraud resources:
