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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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "mrpaulbrown00@mail.mn" (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.
Fraud email example:
From: "CLAIMS DEPARTMENT W/AFRICA" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrpaulbrown00@mail.mn>
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2011 16:50:51 -0800
Subject: Contact Mr Paul Brown For Your $750.000.00
Good Day,
I am using this opportunity to inform you that the online automatic random email selection lottery, that you won some time ago which you were unable to claim due to loss of contact or communication by the finance house that was supposed to inform you on your winnings has been rectified.The sum of $750,000 USD (SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) will be delivered to you as compensation for the total sum of your initial winnings which you were unable to claim.
Below is the contact details of the fiduciary agent which you are to contact in ensuring the swift delivery of your check;Please be sure your response is sent to him and not me please.
Name of Agent:Mr.Paul Brown
Email address: mrpaulbrown00@mail.mn
Tel: +234-708 397 6254
At the moment, I am very busy here because of the investment projects I am having at hand. Finally,I have forwarded instruction to the finance house on your behalf to send the bank draft to you as soon as you contact them.
Best Regards,
Mrs. Alice Grant
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Anti-fraud resources:
