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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- 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.
- ecowas_foundation2008@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Ecowas Grant Donation" <INFO@EWF.ORG>
Reply-To: ecowas_foundation2008@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:19:58 +0700 (WIT)
Subject: Grant/Donation cash aid of US$850,000.00
Ecowas Fondation(EWF)
The Ecowas Fondation, would like to notify you that you have been chosen
by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a
Grant/Donation cash aid of US$850,000.00 (eight hundred and fifty thousand
United states Dollars) as charity donations/aid from the Ecowas
Fondation(EWF).
However you will have to fill the Verification Form below and submit
thisform to the office annex in Nigeria for verification & direction on
how you can claim your fund, Please endeavor to quote your Qualification
number (EWF-444-6647-9163)in all discussions.
FULL NAMES:
FULL RESIDENTAL ADDRESS:
SEX:TELEPHONE NUMBER:
COUNTRY:
You are required to contact the Executive Secretary in Nigeria with the
below information, For the qualification documentation and processingof
your claims and endevour to send the Verification Form to them for
processing.
Executive Secretary Contact Details:
Name:Mr.Cole
Email:ecowas_foundation2008@yahoo.com.hk
+234_8164558354
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Anti-fraud resources:
