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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "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. )
- "cashiers check" (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.
- 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.
- +447024055460 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Richard Gras" <mail4@williamsmithwork.com>
Reply-To: richard_gras@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:15:07 +0000
Subject: JOB OFFER (WORK FROM HOME)
Hello,
GHOLDINGSINCS needs a book-keeper in the United States , Our company produces various clothing materials, batiks, assorted fabrics and traditional costumes.We have clients we supply weekly in the states and my clients make payments for our supplies every week in form of money orders or cashiers check which are not readily cashable outside the US or Canada,so we need someone in the States/Canada to work as our representative and assist us in processing the payments from our clients and I will pay him/her a weekly wage, by percentage.
All you need to do is receive this payment from our clients in the States or Canada and get it cashed in your bank or a cashing center then deduct your 12% and forward the balance to the company down here via money gram or western union money transfer.
FIRST NAME...
SURNAME.......
ADDRESS........
CITY.............
STATE...........
ZIPCODE..........
COUNTRY........
PHONE NUMBER (S)..............
GENDER......................
MARITAL STATUS....
AGE............
NATIONALITY.....
Kindly send the required information to me via my email {richard_gras@yahoo.co.uk} if only you are willing to work from home part-time and get paid weekly by 12%.Thus Your information will be forwarded to our numerous clients in the states so as to issue out payment.
Hoping to hear from you soon.
Regard
Richard Gras
GHOLDINGSINCS
127 DEPTFORD HIGH STREET
LONDON,UNITED KINGDOM
SE18 2DG
+44-702-405-5460 OR +44-703-590-3833
{richard_gras@yahoo.co.uk}
Anti-fraud resources:
