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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:
- 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:
- "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!
Fraud email example:
From: "Coca-Cola Bothling Company Lottery Promotion 2010" <info@claims.com>
Reply-To: cocacola_claim.agency@w.cn
Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:00:11 -0000 (GMT)
Subject: congratulation's Dear Lucky Winner!!! Your Email Address Have
Just Won Gbp =?iso-8859-1?Q?=A3500=2C000.00!!!?=
CONGRATULATION'S DEAR LUCKY WINNER!!! YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS HAVE JUST WON YOU
THE SUM OF GBP£500,000.00.FIVE HUNDREND THOUSAND GREAT BRITISH POUNDS..IN
THE ON GOING.COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY LOTTERY PROMOTION/SWEEPSTAKES
PRIZE AWARD FOR FEBRUARY 2010 HOST IN GHANA WEST AFRICA?WITH WINNING
NUMBER:(#82-321-721383)FILE NUMBE (#CCLP/7389231/10)WINNING TICKET
NUMBER:(#CL872010)BALLOT NUMBER:(#BT:921532010/CLP)AS A 2ND CLASS BATCH
CATEGORY B WINNER TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE.DO CONTACT OUR PAYMENT
OFFICER.DR.MORRIS BENSON, COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY LOTTERY
PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD FOR 2010? WINNER NOTE THAT YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DULY
PROCESSED HENCE,CAREFULLY FILL IN THE APPROPRIATE REQUIRE INFORMATIONS IN
THE SPACE PROVIDED BELOW TO FACILITATE OUR IMMEDIATE COMMENCEMENT OF YOUR
CLAIMS/PROCESSING AND REMITTANCE.
===============================================
WINNER DO PROVIDE US WITH THE BELOW INFORMATION
===============================================
SEX:.....................
AGE:.....................
NAME:....................
STATE:...................
MOBILE:..................
ADDRESS:.................
OCCUPATION:..............
NATIONALITY:.............
==========================================
NOTE:WINNER THAT YOU ARE TO CALL OUR CLAIM OFFICE IMMEDIATLY YOU RECEIVE
THIS MASSAGE WITH THE MOBILE NUMBER BELOW FOR IMMEDIAT SERVICE.
REGARD'S
AGENT.DR MORRIS BENSON,
PAYMENT OFFICER COCA-COLA LOTTERY PROMOTION 2010.
76 SPRINGTEX ROAD,GHANA ACCRA
TELEPHONE:+233543685278
EMAIL:cocacola_claim.agency@w.cn
http://www.udo.edu.ve
Universidad de Oriente - Venezuela.
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Anti-fraud resources:
