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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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "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)
- "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!
- 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.
- oliverzipse200@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "MR. Oliver Zipse" <benjaminishaya362@gmail.com>
Reply-To: oliverzipse200@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2023 15:22:52 -0700
Subject: Hello Dear Winner,
Hello Dear Winner,
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a prize of a
brand New 2023 Model BMW 7 Series Car and a Cheque of $12.500,000.00
United States Dollars from international programs held on the 2nd
section 2022 in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The selection process
was carried out through random selection in our computerized email
selection system (ESS) from a database of over 250,000 email addresses
drawn from all the continents of the world which you were selected.
The BMW Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board and also
Licensed by the International Association of Gaming Regulators
(IAGR).To begin the processing of your prize you are to contact our
fiduciary claims department for more information as regards procedures
to claim your prize,
Name: Oliver Zipse
email,(oliverzipse200@gmail.com)
Contact him by providing him with your secret pin code Number
BMW:79912010734/15. You are also advised to provide him with the under
listed information as soon as possible:
1. Name in full.
2. Address.
3. Nationality.
4. Age.
5. Occupation.
6. Phone/Fax
7. Present Country. 8. Email address.
9. pin code Number BMW:BMW7991201734/15
Note: It's your responsibility as a winner to facilitate the delivery
of your grand price/winning to your destination. After the provision
of the required listed information stated above then shall the
fiduciary agent avail you with the details on how you get your winning
car and check deliver to your door step.
MR.Oliver Zipse
THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS
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Anti-fraud resources:
