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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:
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- 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.
- 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.
- reddotoffice@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Red Dot Company" <info@reddot.com>
Reply-To: reddotoffice@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 01:53:17 -0700
Subject: Email From Red Dot Company Call: +234 703 955 1544
RED-DOT OFFICE (AFRICA BRANCH)
70 International Airport Road
Mafoluku, Lagos.
Tel. : +234 703 955 1544
We the staff of Red Dot Company are happy to announce to
you of your e-mail address which was selected from the
database of your email account provider, you have been awarded
the sum of six hundred thousand dollars (600,000,00usd) in our
ongoing end of year winning promotion.
To file for the claim of this award money you are therefore
advice to reply back with your
Name....
Age........
Sex.....
Address....
Occupation....
phone number......
Country......
upon your response we will give you more details on how to
claim your award money.
Contact: reddotoffice@gmail.com
once again congratulations our lucky winner.
Regards
Red Dot Company
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This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
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Anti-fraud resources: