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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims 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)
- 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.
- 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.
- williamsvandijk@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "FREELOTTO ONLINE" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 15:04:45 -0500
Subject: FREELOTTO YEAR BONANZA 2013
Online Lotto Corporations.
Belgrave House 76
London
United Kingdom
ONLINE LOTTO ANNIVERSARY WINNING NOTIFICATION.
Award Winning No: GPAT/880733/006425/GB/2013
File Reference No: GUK/01193/0684578/007/2013
Your email address has won you 1,000,000.00(One Million Euro) from Online Lotto, all the E-mail addresses were selected from a data base of internet E-mail users, which your E-mail address came out as the winning coupon.
Expiring date 30th of November, 2013. Contact our claims Agent below
with your Winning number.
Online Lotto Agency.
Mr. Williams Van Dijk
Director of winning claim department.
DIRECT EMAIL: williamsvandijk@aol.com
DIRECT PHONE: +31-645205287
DIRECT FAX: +31-847301112
You are advised to contact your Claims Administrator with the following details to avoid unnecessary delay and complications:
PAYMENT PROCESSING DETAILS/FORM.
(1) Your complete contact address---------------------
(2) Your Tel/Mobile numbers: ----------------------------
(3) Your Nationality/Country: ---------------------------
(4) Your Full Name: ---------------------------
(5) Occupation/Company: ---------------------------
(6) Age/Gender: ---------------------------
(7) Have you ever won an online lottery? ---------------------------
(9) Alternative email account if any: ---------------------------
So you are hereby strongly advised once more to keep your winnings strictly confidential until you claim your prize.
Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of the lotto.nl interactive Lotteries Board Commission.
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