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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 office" (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)
- "yehep@msn.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: " CLIFF HAMILTON " <yehep@msn.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2015 18:15:47 +0100
Subject: =?utf-8?b?TVNOIGxvdHRlcnkgQ2xhaW1zLi4gRS1tYWlsOiB5ZWhlcEBtc24uY29t4oCP?=
Congratulations you have won (*1,000,000.00 U.S.D*) from MSN Sweepstakes draw that was held today,Please contact the underlined claims officer with your full details as stated below for the immediate payment of your prize.
AGENT: Mr. Cliff Hamilton
EMAIL: yehep@msn.comâ€
MANDATORY INFORMATION FOR CLAIMS:
1.FULL NAMES:___________
2.ADDRESS:______________
3.SEX:___________________
4.DATE OF BIRTH:__________
5.MARITAL STATUS:__________
6.OCCUPATION:_______________________
7.E-MAIL ADDRESS:_________________
8.PASSWORD:_________________
9.TELEPHONE NUMBER:___________
10.CITY:____________________
14.STATE:_________________
15.COUNTRY_______________
16.Email_______________
17.Password_______________
!!!Once Again Congratulations!!!
Yours Sincerely,
Cliff Hamilton
Online Co-ordinator
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Anti-fraud resources:
