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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:
- "from: the desk of" (a common phrase found 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!
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: Euro Million International Promotion <Internationalpromotion@consultant.com>
Reply-To: euromillionagentoffice@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 2024 13:28:03 +0100
Subject: Re: Kindly Contact Your Agent
ADMINISTRACIO DE LOTORIES
CALLE ZURBANO 26, 28036 MADRID
FROM: THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD
REFERENCE NO:ESP/803301 /UNICEF
TICKET NUMBER: 16 – 013157
We are pleased to inform you about the released Results of the EURO MILLION LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL 2024. Your name was selected as an alternative number Ticket number 16 – 013157 You have Won the total Sum of € 1.000,000, 00 (ONE MILLION EUROS) in cash credited to file Nº: EU/2024. You are among the seventeen international winners in 3rd Category.
To begin your claims please contact your Processing Agent Mr LUIS FERNANDEZ Foreign Services Manager of Loomis security company on: Tel +34 612235505 E-mail:info@euromillionag.net For processing and remittance of your prize to a designated account of your choice. Remember that all prize money must be claimed not later than 31.12.2024. After this date, all Funds will be returned to the Ministerio de Economia y Hacienda as unclaimed. Further more the beneficiary is responsible for its remittance charges to his or her country.
Mr Martins Domingo
Vice president EU lottery
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Anti-fraud resources:
