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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:
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- 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: "Spanish Lottery Board" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <spanish.lotteryboard@onet.eu>
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2016 02:22:23 -0800
Subject: Your winning fund awaits you
CONGRATULATION DEAR WINNER. YOUR EMAIL ID HAS JUST WON YOU BIG MONEY
.....please find below details of your winnings.......
This is to officially inform you that your Email ID has being picked as one of the lucky winner in the European Enterprise Promotion Award 2016 held in Benin Republic, West Africa in collaboration with IMF, United Nations Organization and the Government of Benin Republic.
THIS IS TO PROVE YOUR TICKET WINNING DETAIL:-
Date of Registration: 2016/2017:
Winning no:Z562UN8-45
Code: bz47/N986/B1PL
Prize (ex. Ordering Checks): $1.5Million USD
Electronic (ex. Direct Deposit/Automatic Payment):$1.5Million each
WINNING INSTALLED AMOUNT:$1.5Million
PAYING BANK: UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA (ATM Master Card)
DELIVERY DETAILS: UPS, DHL, FEDEX, AMAREX RESPECTIVELY
Below is the information needed from you
(1.) Full Name:
(2.) House Address:
(3.) Marital Status:
(4.) Occupation:
(5.) Phone Number:
(6.) Country:
(7.) Age:
(8.) Your valid ID or passport copy.
This is to prove your Ticket Number; (UKBF14 4231 95606541 033) to be presented for you claims
I advised that you kindly verify the U.B.A paying bank Website: www.ubagroup.com for you to know that everything is 100% real because many have received their fund from this bank. Note that terms and conditions apply as well as your humble cooperation.
waiting for your urgent respond to proceed with your winning funds confirmation.
Best Regard and please reply me with the above needed details at once to enable attend to you
Thank you
Williams Cord
Spanish Lottery Board Adviser
Cotonou Benin Republic, West Africa
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