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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "money orders " (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. )
- "money order " (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 company representative scam. This type of job offer scam involves the cashing of fake checks and money orders. It could expose you to losses of tens of thousands of dollars as well as to the risk of criminal prosecution and (in some cases) imprisonment.
- Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
- MoneyGram money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. Along with Western Union it is a preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
- 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.
- sarahclerkfabrics5@yahoo.gr (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
- sarahclerkfabrics2@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: =?iso-8859-7?q?Michael=20Specer?= <sarahclerkfabrics5@yahoo.gr>
Reply-To: sarahclerkfabrics2@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:00:24 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: JOB OFFER
¸÷ù êáéíïýñãéá äéåýèõíóç email!Ôþñá ìðïñåßôå íá ìïõ óôÝëíåôå email óôç äéåýèõíóç: sarahclerkfabrics5@yahoo.gr
- Dear Sir/Madam, Would you like to work online from home and get paid weekly? Sarah Clerk Fabrics needs a book-keeper in the states, so I want to know if you will like to work online from home and get paid weekly without leaving or affecting your present job. We presently run a Textile and Fabrics firm in the Dublin, Republic of Ireland and we need someone to work for The Company as a Representative/Book Keeper in the United States. Our Company produces various clothing materials, Batiks, Assorted Fabrics and Traditional Costume which we have clients we supply weekly in the United States. Our clients make payments for our supplies every week in form of Money Orders or an American Cashier’s check which are not readily cashable outside the United States. So we need someone in the States to work as our representative and assist us in processing the Payments from our clients and we will pay him weekly Salary Or rather 10% on each Check or Money Order cashed. ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS RECEIVE THIS PAYMENTS FROM OUR CLIENTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND YOU GET IT CASHED IN YOUR BANK THEN DEDUCT YOUR WEEKLY PAY OR PERCENTAGE AND FOWARD THE BALANCE TO THE COMPANY or any of our Regional Houses that will forwarded to later through MONEYGRAM TRANSFER or WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER. Please reply as soon as possible if you are interested. EMAIL:::{sarahclerkfabrics2@yahoo.co.uk or info@sarahclerkfabrics.com } Web{http://www.sarahclerkfabrics.com):::CELL; +353 879 580 239...Warmest Regards, Michael Spencer. Admin Officer SCF& Textile
Anti-fraud resources:
