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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:
- The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. )
- 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.
- +447020682946 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- +447045726559 (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.
- tnt_ukcourier_services111@yahoo.co.uk
Fraud email example:
From: WESLEY HAYER <claimagent_hayer01@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 10:07:12 +0100 (BST)
Subject: CONTACT COURIER FOR YOUR DELIVERY
The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
DEAR Halag Thal,
CONGRATULATIONS!This is to inform you that you have been cleared a winner of
The UK National Lottery International program. I am happy to inform you, your Original Certificate and your Certified bank cheque has been forwarded to the courier company.
Find below the details of the courier company.
TNT COURIER CO.UK.LIMITED
ADDRESS OF HEAD OFFICE:Link House, 1C CHURCH STREET,
WHITCHURCH, HANTS,RG28 7AD ENGLAND.
NAME: Mr.TOM SMITH (dispatch officer)
E-MAIL: tnt_ukcourier_services111@yahoo.co.uk
TEL: +44 70457 26559
Fax: +44702 068 2946
You are advised to send the courier company a mail to their email
address for their courier cost.
Note: you are to Quote your complete names, and your direct phone
number so that they can honor your letter. Once again I say
congratulations and always inform me when you are dealings with the
courier company.
Thanks,
Mr.Hayer Wesley
Claims Agent
The UK National Lottery.
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