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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million us 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)
- ",500,000" (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!
- Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
- 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.
- andersondaviclaims100@yahoo.com.hk
Fraud email example:
From: "" <autokov@iol.cz>
Reply-To: andersondaviclaims100@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:31:44 GMT
Subject: Congratulation To You
MICROSOFT INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS:
61-70 Southampton Row, Bloomsbury,
LONDON, United Kingdom, WC1B 4AR.
REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937
BATCH: 2005MJL-01
Dear Winner,
We happily announce to you the draw (Draw #1202) of the MSW LOTTERY, online
Sweepstakes International Program held on recently in the UK. You have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of GBP5,500,000.00 POUNDS in
cash which is approximately $11.4MILLION US DOLLARS credited to file
REF NO:MSW-L/200-26937.
This is from total prize money of GBP27,500,000.00 POUNDS, shared among the
Twenty (5)international winners in this category.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiduciary agent via email.
MR.ANDERSON DAVI
E-m@il: andersondaviclaims100@yahoo.com.hk
Provide him with the following information to claim your prize.
Name:
Address:
Occupation :
Sex:Age:
Nationality:
Country of residence:
Telephone number:
BATCH NUMBER:
REFERENCE NO:
Yours Truly,
MRS.PATRICIA LAWRENCE
LOTTERY CO-ORDINATOR/ANNOUNCER.
As we focus on making a difference in people's lives, people focus on Western
Union and acknowledge the possibilities we offer to those we serve.
Anti-fraud resources:
