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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "el gordo " (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "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. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- 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.
- coinsecagent@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: EL GORDO UK SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY LONDON. <swpstklottery@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: coinsecagent@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:36:43 +0400
Subject: EL GORDO UK SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY LONDON.
EL GORDO UK SWEEPSTAKE
PO Box 1010
Liverpool L70 1NL, United Kingdom.
Ref: XYL /26510460037/05
Batch: 24/00319/IPD
WINNING NOTIFICATION
We happily announce to you the draw (#1071) winner of the EL GORDO UK =3D
SWEEPSTAKE
LOTTERY cash prize of =3DC2=3DA32,696,385 (Two Million Six Hundred and
Ninety =3D
pounds
held on the 15th of June 2007 in London Uk.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
which you were selected.
THE ELGORDO UK. Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board. To
begin the processing of your prize you are to contact our fiduaciary
for more infomation as regards procedures to claim your
prize.
Agents Name: Mr David Johnson.
Email: coinsecagent@yahoo.com
1.Name..........................
2.Address.......................
3.Nationality...................
4.Age...........................
5.Sex...........................
6.Occupation....................
7.Phone/Fax.....................
8.cOUNTRY.....................
YOU ARE TO CHOOSE PAYMENT MODE: OPTIONS
1. BANK TO BANK WIRE TRANSFER.
2. CERTIFIED CHEQUE MADE OUT IN YOUR NAME COURIERED TO YOU VIA OUR
AFFILIATE COURIER COMPANY AND WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOUR ADDRESS
Cordially,
Mrs, Rose Wood
Online Co-ordinator
EL GORDO UK SWEEPSTAKE
Sweepstakes International Program
Anti-fraud resources:
