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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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "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!
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
- 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.
- onlineclaimsdept05@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: web-winner@mchsi.com (Copyright X 1994-2007 IRISH LOTTERY)
Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 05:02:15 +0000
Subject: OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION: CONTACT:( onlineclaimsdept05@yahoo.co.uk )
The Irish Lottery
47 Meadow Vale,
Sligo, Ireland.
Ref:LSUK/2031/8161/05
Batch: R3/A312-59
Date : 09 / 09 / 07
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
We are pleased to announce to you the draw of the IRISH LOTTERY PROGRAMME
online Sweepstakes International Program held on the 18th AUGUST,2007.
Your e-mail address attached to the winning ticket number:56475600545188 with
Serial number 5368/05 drew the lucky number: 21 which subsequently won the
LOTTO PLUS 1 prize. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds Sterlings in cash credited to file
KTU/9023118308/05 of Irish Lottery.
All participants for the online version were selected randomly from the World
Wide Web through a computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions,
associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent:
Terry Clarkson (Esq)
Email: onlineclaimsdept05@yahoo.co.uk
Please provide the details below
1.Name
2.Address
3.Sex
4.Phone
5.Occupation
6.Country
7.Preffered payment Mode:
(a) Cheque (b) Bank Transfer
Sincerely
KENNETH HORWARD III
Online Co-ordinator.
Anti-fraud resources:
