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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:
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- 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: =?UTF-8?Q?Microsoft=C2=AE_Award_Team?= <ciccarelliclaudio@fastwebnet.it>
Reply-To: microsftteamward@w.cn
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:40:09 +0100 (CET)
Subject: 500,000 Pounds
MICROSOFT® AWARD PROMOTION DEPARTMENT.
10 Great Pulteney Street,
London,W1F 9NB United Kingdom.
Ref: BTD/968/11
Batch: 409978E
Dear Lucky Winner!!!
The prestigious Microsoft has set out and successfully organized a
Sweepstakes marking the begining of year 2011, You are among five luckily select
ed winners under draws 6+J promo program specially organized by the Microsoft Aw
ard Department.Your e-mail address was attach to the ticket number 008995727495
in the RandomComputer Selection System (RCSS).However your email flagged out the
lucky numbers 14-21-25-40-40-47(21) and
won you the sum of 500,000 Pounds in certified cheque credited to File No:SBTD/9
080648302/011
You are to reply back with the below required information to enable our Fiduciar
y
agent Mr.McDonald Ray file for your claim Processing.
Full names....
Address...
Country....
Nationality...
Age...
Occupation...
Sex....
Telephone....
Congratulations from the entire member of the Microsoft Promotion Award team.
Sincerely,
Dr.Maryln Llyod
Head Customer care Service.
Microsoft Promotion Award Team.
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Anti-fraud resources:
