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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.
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "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)
- 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.
- 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.
- promoemailannous@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Thailand Email Lotto" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <thailandnotice2010@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 22:46:20 +0700
Subject: Notice!!! Notice!!! Notice!!!
40 Street Mansion
Address: Sukhumvit 40,
Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110 Thailand
Tel: +66896795443
Congratulations!!!
Your e-mail address have just won you One Million Dollars only (1,000.000.00 Dollars) in the Thailand Kingdom Email Lotto 2010 Lottery Promotion,Note you don't have to purchase a ticket to enter this lottery, your email indicating you as a winner.
Please Keep this winning numbers confidential to avoid double claims, and you must quote it in your response.
Winning Numbers: 5 6 14 18 30 35 Bonus 2
Endeavor to contact Mr. Dave Coleman Immediately with Your Bio-data's.
Full Names............
Address................
Country.................
Age.......................
Sex.......................
Occupation............
Telephone Number.........
Contact this office for more details:
Thailand Kingdom EMAIL LOTTO OFFICE 2010
Contact Person:Mr.Dave Coleman
Telephone:+66896795443
Email: promoemailannous@yahoo.com.hk
More important you have to respond back to our letter with the information listed above. Please remember you are to keep all lotto information away from the general public especially now that you are yet to get your Winning .(This is important as a case of double claims will not be entertained)
Once again Congratulations from members of Thailand Kingdom Email Lotto Promotions.
Sincerely Yours
Mrs. Pahala Robert
Publication Department
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Anti-fraud resources: