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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:
- "security keeping fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "consignment " (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)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- 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 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.
- john11eddy@yahoo.com.hk (Yahoo, Hong Kong; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Mariam Benson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <john11eddy@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:31:53 +0900
Subject: Attention: Winner,
Attention: Winner,
You won the sum of $350,000.00 UNITED STATES DOLLARS from our yearly sweepstakes 2010.Your email address was among the five lucky winner in our computer email ballot,You are hereby advice to contact Mr. John Eddy to claim your prize.
CONTACT PERSON: MR. JOHN EDDY
E-MAIL ADDRESS: (john11eddy@yahoo.com.hk)
TEL: 011-234-8055-817-495
CLAIMS PROCESSING REQUIREMENT DATA:
1).Full name;.............
2).Residential address;................
3).Age;..................
4).Tel.;.................
5).Fax ;.................
Note: the only money you will send to Mr. John Eddy to deliver your Consignment direct to your postal Address in your country is just ($120 .00 USD)only being Security Keeping Fee of the Courier Company so far.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Mariam Benson.
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Anti-fraud resources:
