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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:
- "claim agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- ",500,000" (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)
- 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.
- +447012990318 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- 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.
- kensudi.lawfirm60@yahoo.co.uk (Yahoo, United Kingdom; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Coca Cola Annual Promotion <cocacola.annualpromo003@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2013 09:43:00 +0200
Subject: COCA COLA COMPANY ANNUAL PROMOTIONS
The Coca Cola Company
Promotion/Prize Award
Coca Cola Avenue
Stamford Bridge London
SW1V 3DW United Kingdom
Reference Numbers: CCUK526082013 BATCH NO BT: 9112013
12-12-2013
COCA COLA COMPANY ANNUAL PROMOTIONS
We happily announce to you the COCA COLA ANNUAL PROMOTIONS Email lottery
promo in accordance to the Lottery International program for the year 2013.
The selection process was carried out through random selection in our
computerized email selection machine (TOPAZ) and won you the lottery bonus
draw in total of £1,500,000 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Pounds) The
above sum is liable for claim to only the recipient of this mail. Kindly
adhere to the directives below to expedite your claim. Contact our claim
agent with your following details below.
Full names:
Physical or Postal address:
Contact Numbers:
Email:
Date of Birth:
Gender:
Marital status:
Nationality:
Occupation:
Winning Reference Numbers and Batch Numbers:
CLAIM AGENT DETAILS
NAME: KEN SUDI
Contact Numbers: +447012990318
Email: kensudi.lawfirm60@yahoo.co.uk
To avoid unnecessary complications, you are to keep all information away
from the general public especially your reference numbers and batch
numbers. This is important as any case of double claims will not be
entertained.
Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this program.
Sincerely
Bryan Gibbs
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Anti-fraud resources:
