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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "u.k " (this email uses bad English)
- 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.
- +447031988028 (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.
- lottofreehouse@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "FREELOTTO AFFILIATED OFFICE U.K" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <lottofreehouse@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2015 22:33:19 +0800
Subject: FREE LOTTO WINNER!!!
FROM: GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED
LOTTERY PROMOTERS.
FREELOTTO AFFILIATED OFFICE U.K,
82 VICTORIA STREET VICTORIA LONDON SW1 U.K
TEL:+(44)-7031988028
NOTIFICATION OF WINNING
Hurray:Your Email Address has won $2,000.000.00USD in this Monthly FREELOTTO promotion Lottery,United Kingdom with: Reference SerialNumber:F2-003-036 and Batch number FR/45-300-07.
click on the website link below to view the photo page of some of our recent lucky winners. http://www.freelotto.com/ThisWeeksWinners.asp
To claim your winning contact the email below:
with your informations as followed:Name: Country: Occupation: Age :Phone Number : along side with your wining Serial Number and Batch Number respectively.
Freelotto Fiduciary Department.
Mr.James Hendrick
82 Victoria Street,Victoria London SW1 U.K
Email:lottofreehouse@yahoo.com
Tel:+447031988028
The freelotto internet draw is held every month and is so organized to encourage the use of the internet and computer worldwide. We are proud to say that over 400 millions U.S Dollars are won annually in more than 118 countries Worldwide.
Warning!!!: Fraudulent emails are circulating that appear to be using Free Lotto addresses, but are not from The Free Lotto. PLEASE REPORT IMMEDIATELY TO:abuse@freelotto.com
Once again congratulations.
Sincerely,
Fred Hendrick
Chairman & CEO Copyright © 1995-2011
The FREELOTTO National Lottery Inc. All rights
reserved. Terms of Service - Guideline
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
N:B: You are advised to keep your winning strictly confidential until
your winning is processed and received by you. This is to avoid double
claiming which could lead to disqualification.
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Anti-fraud resources:
