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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "toyota lottery" (no such lottery exists)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million us 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)
- ",000,000" (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.
- lotto.global100@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "TOYOTA WORLDWIDE LOTTO" <info@barinan.com>
Reply-To: LOTTO.GLOBAL100@AOL.COM
Date: 10 Nov 2022 02:59:59 +0500
Subject: RE: YOU HAVE WON $1,000,000
Toyota Lottery Organization.
Email: LOTTO.GLOBAL100@AOL.COM
Dear Winner,
EMAIL WINNING NUMBER: TYT-0077-981-2022
We are glad to inform you that your E-mail Address has won you the cash prize of $1,000,000.00 USD (One Million US Dollars) NO TICKETS SOLD.
Your Email Winning Details: TYT-0077-981-2022
Batch Number: 079/20AD/TT46
Category: 1st Batch
To file for your claim you are to contact claims agent immediately at the email address below in order to match up with your winning email address:
FULL NAME:
CONTACT ADDRESS:
COUNTRY:
AGE:
MALE/FEMALE:
YOUR JOB:
MOBILE NUMBER:
You must not reveal winning information to anyone or persons. This is to avoid double claiming of your winning prize.
Congratulations once again!!!
Yours Faithfully,
Online Coordinators
Toyota Lottery Organization.
E-mail: LOTTO.GLOBAL100@AOL.COM
Joan; 0081 800-331-4333
Lily; 0086 571-8502-2055
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Anti-fraud resources: