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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 message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- mic.williams43@yahoo.com (Yahoo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Micheal Williams" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:45:06 +0100
Subject: Checking Your Reservation
Hello Dear,
We need a reservation for 21 days vacation of two couples
Details of the reservation as follows:
Number of people arriving: 4.(adults)
Number of rooms: 4 singles,2 double rooms or 1 Apartment
Check in date: 1st of July 2010
Check out date: 21st of July 2010
Please get back to me with grand total cost of the stay for the 4 adults in Euro.
Please you advised to indicate incase if there is more to enjoy by the guest
in your place.
I await to hear from you.
mic.williams43@yahoo.com
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Anti-fraud resources: