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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:
- "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "infols@ozu.es" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "infols@ozu.es" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- 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: "dreals" <indet@centrum.sk>
Date: Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:54:41 +0200
Subject: Lottery Winning Notification.
Lottery Winning Notification.
Loomis Spain Sa
Calle Emilio Mario 12
28002,Madrid Spain.
infols@ozu.es
Madrid 7th April 2010.
Beneficiary Sir/Madam.
Dear winner,
Winning Details.
Serial No:Lzzl.
Lucky No:Eu1/Es/010.
Ref No:Es/Lo1/0-11/Es.
Batch No:Es2010
This is to inform you that your email has won a Lottery prize of 680.000.00 Euros
(Six Hundred and Eighty Thousand Euros Only).
Please you are advised to contact our Managing Director through email,for prompt
collection and immediate transfer of your fund.
Name:Dr.Mark Gonzalez
Managing Director:Loomis Spain Sa
Email:infols@ozu.es
You are to keep all the lottery information away from the general public
especially your winning number.
(This is important as a case of double claiming will not be entertained)
The contents of any email addressed to our clients are subject to our usual terms of
Service;any item which does not relate to the official Service of the firm is neither
given nor endorsed by it.Copyright©1999-2010 Loomis Spain Sa.All rights reserved.
congratulations once again!
Sincerely,
Mrs.Anita Guzman
Promotions Manager
Lottery Claims Office.
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Anti-fraud resources:
