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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")
- ",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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "cocacolacompany@voila.fr" (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: "Coca-Cola" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <cocacolacompany@voila.fr>
Date: Sun, 27 May 2012 21:20:21 -0700
Subject: COCACOLA AWARD YOU $1,000,000.00 USD
THE COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY SEASONAL PROMOTION PRIZE AWARDS 2012
Ref Number: ASL/941OYI/02/SHYN
Ticket Number (7PWYZ-2012)
Ballot Number (BT:1205-2012/20)
ATTENTION:
This is to notify you that your e-mail address was randomly selected and entered into our free Third Category draws.You have subsequently emerged a winner and therefore entitled to a substantial amount of $1,000,000.00 USD (One Million United State Dollar). Kindly confirm receipt of this email by forwarding your details to the claims department.
This Promotion is approved by the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). This Promotional Awards of Prize is the 3rd of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public. In other to claim your prize winning, Please contact our fiduciary agent with your personal details for claims in the form below,
Eng: Benson Luke.
Reply To This Email: cocacolacompany@voila.fr
1.Full Names:.................
2.Date of Birth:............
3.Sex:......................
4.Contact Address:...........
5.Country:.................
6.Mobile Number:............
7.Occupation:.................
8.How Do You Feel As A Winner:........................
9.How do you want to receive your funds?...... Bank ( ) OR Courier ( )
Congratulations on behalf of the entire management and staff of Coca-Cola Company Plc.
Mrs. Florence Whitney
Online Co-coordinator
The Coca-Cola Company. Copy Right 2012 All Rights Reserved.
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Anti-fraud resources:
