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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:
- "euro afro american lottery promotion" (no such lottery exists)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "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)
- ",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)
- "00,000.00" (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 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.
- +27866008514 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)
- +27764665363 (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.
- joneskladdclaimagent_2010bid@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: bid2010award_dept3@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:08:29 +0200
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS
Euro Afro American Lottery promotion Switzerland
FROM:THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT.
Attention:Lucky Winner,
We happily announce to you the draw of South African 2010 World cup Bid
lottery Award International programs held in Zurich, Switzerland.Your
e-mail address attached to ticket number:B966575604546199 with!
Serial number 97560 drew the winning:60/84/27/17/36,which
subsequently won you the lottery award in the 2nd category.
Your name has therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
US$6,000.000.00 (Six million United States Dollars) in cash credited
to file number KPC/9030108308/03.This is from a total cash prize of
$18,000,000.00 (Eigtheen million United States dollars) shared among
the first Three (3)lucky winners in this category worldwide.
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our lottery
booklet representative office in South Africa as indicated in the play
coupon. In view of this, your $6,000.000.00(Six Million United States
Dollars)will be released to you through the assistance of our Claim Agent
in South Africa.He will immediately commence the process to facilitate the
release of your Prize to you as soon as you contact him.
All participants were selected randomly from Worldwide Web site through
computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000,00 companies and
individual email addresses.The lottery program took place to promote
South Africa`s 2010 world cup award.
Please you are advised to file for your claim through our Claim Agent
Dr.Jones Kladd immediately you receive this message.
Email:joneskladdclaimagent_2010bid@yahoo.co.uk
Tel:+27764665363
Fax:+27 866008514.
Congratulations.
Yours sincerely,
Gillian Kennedy.
Promotions Manager
2010 World Cup Bid.
Promotions.
Anti-fraud resources: