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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:
- "lagos" (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: Golden Chance Promo <kuru-kuru@ca.pikara.ne.jp>
Reply-To: golden.help.desk.care@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2019 06:15:03 +0900
Subject: LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR WINNER
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GOLDEN CHANCE LOTTO
55 Awolowo Way,
Ikeja, Lagos., Lagos
Republic of Nigeria
Dear Winner,
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a prize of a
brand new LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR 2018 Car worth $ 402,566
United States Dollars from our Lambo international New year programs
The selection process was carried out base on how often your email
address is been used.
The Lambo international New year programs is approved by the Nigerian
Gaming Board and also
Licensed by the Lagos State Lotteries Board: LSLB.
To begin the processing of your prize you are to contact our fiduciary
claims department to cliam your prize.immedietly
Mr. Josh Badadu.
THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS
LAMBO LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
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Anti-fraud resources:
