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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:
- "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- ",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)
- "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 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.
- +447024093441 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- 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.
- d.smithpch@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: d.smithpch@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:10:04 +0700
Subject: YOUR EMAIL ID HAS WON =?UTF-8?Q?=C2=A3=35=36=30=2C=30=30=30=2E=30=30?=
We are pleased to announce you as one of the 5 lucky winners of the
Publishers Clearing House Monthly draws held for October 2008.All five
winners Email Address were randomly selected from a batch of
10,000,000 international emails.
Your email address emerged alongside 4 others as a category 2 winner
in this year's weekly Publishers Clearing House Consequently, you have
therefore been approved for a total pay out of £560,000.00(Five
hundred and Sixty thousand pounds) only. The following particulars are
attached to your lotto payment order:
(i) winning numbers:47-14-34-85-67-32
(ii) email ticket number:FL 754/22/76
(iii) lotto code number: FL09622UK
(iv) Ref number:FL/04/836207147/UK
Please contact the under listed claims officer as soon as possible
for the immediate release of your winnings:
Mrs. Doris Smith
Email: d.smithpch@gmail.com [1]
Tel:+447024093441
Winners must send their Data or fill the data's below and send to
their claims officer:
1.
Name:
2.Address:
3.Sex:
4.Age:
5.Marital Status:
6.Occupation:
7.Indicate Preferred Mode of Prize Collection: (A) Cheque (B) Draft
(C)
Telegraphis Transfer if by Telegraphis Transfer(Details
of the account where you want yourfunds
transferred):
8.Annual Income:
9.Telephone:
9.State:
10.Country:
!!!Once Again Congratulations!!!
Maryann Carter Contest Department
for Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes
International Program
Links:
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[1] mailto:d.smithpch@gmail.com
Anti-fraud resources:
