|
|
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:
- 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.
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: <info@Coca-Cola.Org>
Reply-To: wayn_desk@admin.in.th
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:08:04 -0500
Subject: winner
Our Ref: Coca-Cola Company
Your Ref: NK/MBH/GB-17/2012
File No.: WLD/FN833-US
This is to officially inform you that You have been favor by the Coca-Cola Company
to receive the total sum of £750,000 (Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand British Pounds)
only for emerging as a Winner in the second category in cash credit file File No.: WLD/FN833-US, the Coca-Cola Company Promotion Programme result held on the 21st of January, 2012. We wish to inform you that your email address was randomly selected as one of the lucky winner in the Coca-Cola Company Promotion. Which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners using their e-mail addresses. Your Personal Identification Number is Batch No: NK/1512/US/SAR.
You are advised to contact Mr. Wayne Walter (wayn_desk@admin.in.th)
for claim processing.
This is to ensure that you receive your Coca-Cola grant Award on time to avoid
delay.
Please provide the following details for processing:
1. Name in full:.....
2. Delivery Address:.
3. Nationality:......
4. Age/Sex:.........
5. Occupation:.......
6. Phone/Fax:........
7. Country:..........
We look forward to receiving the information necessary to complete the process
so that the prize can be sent to you.
Note: This Email Has Been Screened Again.
Regards,
Dr. Helen Clark
Tel: +2348053079946
Online Coordinator
http://www.mycokerewards.com/home.do
Chairman, Committee On Coca-Cola Promotion Company ©2012
|
Anti-fraud resources:
