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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million pounds" (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)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- 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!
Fraud email example:
From: "MR. NEIL TROTTER" <M.@alto.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: "neiltrotter@sfletter.com" <neiltrotter@sfletter.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2016 00:14:24 +0900 (JST)
Subject: From: Mr. Neil Trotter Donation Families
TO: Recipients Email ID.
From: Mr. Neil Trotter Donation Families
For your information: Mr. Neil Trotter is the current winner of £108 million Pounds on the just concluded Euro million Jackpot Draw for 2014 program
I know this is surprising for you to received this message at this very time but you will see many proof once you respond to my request because your email address was given to us by Google management as one of our lucky recipients.
Please read the article carefully to confirm the authenticity of my prize donation.
To view more about our history, please see our interview by visiting the website below ;
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-26627075
Because i Mr. Neil Trotter just received the cheque on Friday 18th of March 2014 and i am excited till now, so i have decided to donate (US$6.5 Million) to you as a gift, i have decided to donate to just 15 people around the globe to mark our Year windfall lucky for you.
My lucky ticket made me the National Lottery's fourth biggest winner from the United Kingdom the year 2015.
So below details needed from you to enable our accountant management sign your donation payment of (US$6.5 Million) in your name this week if you are interested.
============
Your Full Name:
Full home address:
Your Age:
Occupation:
Home phone Number:
Office Tel Numbers
Mobile Phone number:
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For more information forward your details to my private mail at (neiltrotter@sfletter.com)
Make sure you send your personal information to my private mail if you want us response urgent about your donation payment of (US$6.5 Million) because we plan to take care of the needs of our immediate members and make some of our friends millionaires as we believe in making others comfortable and happy like us today.
Best Regards
Mr. NEIL Trotter Wrote
Good day,
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Anti-fraud resources:
