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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:
- "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "million dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- 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.
- sec_claudio011@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: fdv00@mchsi.com (Fondazion Di Vittorio)
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 09:12:35 +0000
Subject: Donation Beneficiary
Foundation's Officer,
Fondazion Di Vittorio, ITALY
http://www.fondazionedivittorio.it
Dear Donation Beneficiary,
The Fondazion Di Vittorio, ITALY, is glad to notify you that you have
beenchosen by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a
cashGrant/Donation.
To celebrate the 6th anniversary program, the Fondazion Di Vittorio,
ITALYinconjunction with other relevant bodies is giving out a yearly
donation of $100,000,000 USD (One hundred Million United States Dollars
) to 100 lucky recipients.You were selected among the lucky
recipients to receive theaward sum of $ 1,000,000.00 USD ( One million
Dollars) as charitydonations/aid from the Fondazion Di Vittorio, ITALY
in accordance with the enabling act of Parliament.
Please endeavor to quote your Qualification numbers (N-222-6747,
E-900-56) quotein alldiscussions. when sending your claims inquiries to
Financial Officer.
SEND ALL YOUR CLAIMS AND INQUIRIES INCLUDING YOUR NAME, ADRESS AND
PHONE NUMBERS TO
Mr.Claudio Giovanni
Executive Secretary,
Fondazion Di Vittorio.
Email: sec_claudio011@yahoo.com.hk
All information is strictly confidential and will only be used for the
purpose to which it is been requested.
On behalf of the Board, kindly accept our warmest congratulations.
Regards.
Mrs. Jennifer Puzo
Anti-fraud resources: