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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:
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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: atm center <jerkin_1update@yahoo.de>
Reply-To: atmapex@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:50:11 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Urgent/Attention Atm Card Owner,
 IMMEDIATE ATM VISA CARD PAYMENT NOTICATIONCONTACT THE PAYMENT UNITS TO GET YOUR CARD  Urgent/Attention Atm Card Owner,
Your ATM CARD was approved and register to ATM PAYMENT DEPARTMENT UNITS to deliver to you immediately once you re-confirm the following information to avoid delivery mistake because the unclaimed ATM CARD is now ready for deliver to your destination address once you reconfirm the following details.
I  want to  inform you that the only thing holding this ATM CARD since here is only keeping fee since that you not yet receive your Card, this time I promise that this is only fee to receive your Card immediately without any hitch and therefore contact the Atm Payment Units now with your information bellow. 1: Full Nameâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦.2: Current Addressâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦3: Occupationâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦..4: Countryâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦..5: ID Card Copyâ¦â¦.6: Ageâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦Â Contact Payment Units Department immediately and ask them how much their keeping fee is. Contact Person: Mr. Robert Johnson
Email:Â Â boa_africa1@e-mail.ua
Phone: +229 68 76 34 57Â If you really donât want to receive an Atm Card I can help you deposit the Card to Bank to have it transfer to you online Bank transfer to your account.Â
Thanks you and have a nice day
Mrs. Sussani Frankoh
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Anti-fraud resources: