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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:
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "atmcardoffice1@yahoo.cn" (this email address looks like addresses used in "ATM SWIFT card" scams)
- "atmcardoffice1@yahoo.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Aminat Bello (Hon.)" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <atmcardoffice1@yahoo.cn>
Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:41:33 -0700
Subject: You Are Advice To Get Back To Me Now
Attention,
This is to officially inform you that your inheritance contract file was verified and forward to my desk but since then i have not hear back from you.I have sent several mail to you but no response.
Listen good i will put stop to this transaction if i did not here back from you in the next 24-Hours. So you are advice to kindly reconfirm the information below and send to atmcardoffice1@yahoo.cn for immediately release of your fund through our ATM Master card.
(1) Your Full Name
(2) Full residential address
(3) Phone And Fax Number
(4) Occupation.
(5) Personal Identification.Drivers license or International Passport.
(7) Age
(8) Marital Status.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Aminat Bello (Hon.)
Secretary to the Presidency
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Anti-fraud resources:
