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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- " lotto international " (no such lottery exists)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claims office" (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)
- "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 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.
- joshcable010@yahoo.co.jp (Yahoo, Japan; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Debra Tao <user@noteworthymedical.com>
Reply-To: debratao267@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2013 12:40:51 -0500
Subject: Hello
Happy Holidays!
We are pleased to inform you of the email award program for internet users.
Your email address was the star pick from the automated ballot system. You
are entitled to receive the lump sum amount of Five Million Five Hundred
Thousand Dollars.
***********************************************
This is an award program for the usage of the internet and all email
addresses entered for the promotional draws were randomly selected from an
internet resource database of registered software and domain users.
This promotional draw was conducted in Asia and Europe, but email entries were
drawn on a global basis.
*Draw Number: 1672
*Winning Amount : $5,500,000.00USD
You are required to establish contact with your
claims agent via e-mail with the particulars presented
below:
***********************************************
CLAIMS AGENT
Contact: Mr. Josh Cable
Email contact: joshcable010@yahoo.co.jp
In line with the governing rules of claim, You are required
to contact your claims agent via e-mail with your Draw Number: 1672.
Congratulations!!!
Debra Tao
Online Coordinator
***********************************************
N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the
Winners will result to disqualification.
NOTE: You are to contact your claims officer
immediately. In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications,
please remember to quote your draw number in every one
of your correspondence.
The Dorchester Lotto International Program ©
The Dorchester Lotto Inc. All rights reserved ©
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