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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "i have a new email address!" (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "federal republic of benin" (Benin, Cameroon, etc. are no Federal Republics, unlike Nigeria where this type of scam was invented)
- This email message is a "New Partner from Paraguay" scam.
- 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.
- +22993700795 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)
- 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.
- princessdoris75@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
- peter_uba2004@ubbi.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: peter_uba2004@ubbi.com
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:54:26 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CONTACT MY SCRETARY
I have a new email address!You can now email me at: princessdoris75@yahoo.com
- Dear Friend, I did not forget your past effort by trying to help me, now I want to tell you that i have suceeded in getting those funds transferred under the co-operation of a new partner from Paraguay.Contact my secretary in Cotonou De federal Republic of Benin because I have left the whole instruction to him on your behalf and instruct him where to send the check worth of $1.000, 000,00 with out any further delay for your compensation. His name is Mr.peter uba Email: (peter_uba2004@ubbi.com) Telephone: +229-93-70-07-95.BELLOW IS THE REQUIRED INFORMATIONS YOU WILL SEND TO MY SECRETARY:- (1) YOUR FULL NAMES (2) YOUR HOUSE ADDRESS (3) YOUR DIRECT CELPHONE NUMBER (4) YOUR OCCUPATION AND AGE REGARDS, Mrs.PrincessDoris//
Anti-fraud resources: