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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:
- "million united states 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)
- ",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)
- "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)
- "f.alford@ymail.com" (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!
- 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.
- +447026046959 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr Laura Smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <f.alford@ymail.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 02:31:53 +0100
Subject: Final Notification
UNITED KINGDOM NATIONAL LOTTERY (INTERNATIONAL EDITION)
IN CONJUNCTION WITH PHILANTROPIST/MICROSOFT ENCOURAGING
INTERNET USERS WORLDWIDE.
Ref: Uk/776090X2/23
Batch: 013/06/8394369
NOTIFICATION
We happily announce to you the Draw of the (ELECTRONIK LOTTERY) INTERNATIONAL EMAIL PROMOTION.Your Email was attached to these lucky winning numbers:
06 18 20 25 35 36 (31) You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of USD$1,000,000.00(One Million United States Dollars) payout in Us
dollars, in cash credited to file XYL/26510460037/08.
To file for your claim please contact the Lottery Director, With Details
Below:
Contact Person: Sir. Fred Alford
Contact Email: f.alford@ymail.com
Telephone no. : +447026046959
1.FULL NAMES OF BENEFICIARY:
2.RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS:
3.DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:
4.PHONE/FAX NUMBERS:
5.NAME AND ADDRESS OF NEXT OF KIN:
6.SEX:
7.OCCUPATION:
8.MARITAL STATUS:
9.NATIONALITY:
10.Ref NUMBER/BATCH NUMBER:
11. AMOUNT WON:
NOTE:
To prevent uneccessary claim & for security reasons You are required to keep this notification/winnings confidential until
you have received your winnings.
The society lotteries are managed by Sisson Marketing International
Limited,certified by the Gambling Commission ELM Certification 180/3/2.©United Kingdom National Lottery 2010.
Congratulations once again from all our staff for being a part of our Promotions program.
Dr Laura Smith
Director of Notifications.
© Richard K. Lloyd & Connect Internet Solutions Limited 2010
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Anti-fraud resources:
