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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (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 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.
- +27834034236 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)
- 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.
- maka_martins95@excite.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: maka_martins95@excite.com
Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2006 14:11:48 -0800
Subject: 2010 SOUTH AFRICAN INTERNATIONAL WORLD
FOREIGN SERVICE CLAIMS AGENT,
2010 LOTTERY WORLD CUP INTERNATIONAL SOUTH AFRICA.
Name: MR. MAKA MARTINS
Tell: +27 834 034 236
EMAIL: maka_martins95@excite.com
In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please
remember to quote your winning numbers and insurance numbers and other information.
Congratulations'' once again from all of our staff and thank you for being part
of our promotions program.
Regards,
Mrs. Thabo Rose.
LOTTO CORDINATOR.
Congratulations from the Staff & Members of the
2010 World Cup Lottery Board Commission
Copyright © 1994-2006 The 2010 Lottery Inc.
All rights reserved. Terms of Service - Guideline
100860 8556 2548 9576ZA
Anti-fraud resources:
