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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:
- "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)
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- 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.
- mrs.shelly_w@yahoo.com.cn (Yahoo, China; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT...(Mrs. Rachael Adams)"
<hr@mail.yamoffice.yam.com>
Reply-To: <mrs.shelly_w@yahoo.com.cn>
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:05:10 +0700
Subject: BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT...CONTACT THE BELOW AGENT.
BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
UNITED STATE OF AMERICA.
Dear Winner,
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a prize of a brand new BMW 7 Series Car and a Check of $500,000.00usd from international programs held on this section 2011 in the UNITED STATE OF AMERICA.
The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection system (ESS) from a database of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world which you were selected.
The BMW Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). To begin the processing of your prize you are to contact our fiduciary claims department for more information as regards procedures to claim your prize.
Name: Mrs. Shelly Weiss
Email: mrs.shelly_w@yahoo.com.cn
Contact her by please providing her with your secret pin code Number BMW:2551256003/23. You are also advised to provide her with the under listed information as soon as possible:
1. Name in full. 2. Address.
3. Nationality. 4. Age.
5. Occupation. 6. Phone/Fax.
7. Present Country. 8. Email address.
Mrs. Rachael Adams.
THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS
BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
UNITED STATE OF AMERICA.
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Anti-fraud resources:
