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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:
- "western union" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "money gram" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "mtcn" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "BARRISTER RAYMOND BRIGGS." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <atmresponse2000@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:25:02 +0100
Subject: NEW DEVELOPMENT
Good Day To You,
I write to know the status of things from your side if you are truely ready for the claim of your Atm Master Card in Value of $2.5M which is your total amount cash prize won under the Uk Lottery Organisation last year due to your Frequent Internet Usage so your Emaill address won you this amount.
Due to your less previlage in claiming this Atm Master Card Last year we the Board Of Management hereby deduct your delivery charges which is $580 to the amount of $250 to enable the Couriers proceed delivery to your doorstep without any further delay.
Kindly be inform that you are only authorised to withdraw the total amount of $15,000Usd from the Atm Master Card at any designated atm machine around the world.
This payment is to be sent to the Office of our Accountant directly via Western Union Money Transfer Or Money Gram with the details as instructed below.
Receivers Name: Josiah Anyanwu.
Address: Lagos Nigeria.
Text Question: How are you.
Text Answer: Fine.
Amount to be sent: $250
Mtcn/ Reference Numbers:
Be informed that you are not authorised by any means to make any further payment apart from the demanded $250 as it ilegal and will not be accepted by this Office.
The Couriers will also arrive your delivery address in just 48 Hours after confirmation of payment.
We hereby use this medium to inform you that you should stop every other Transaction informing you abount your fund $2.5M as our office is the paying out Office authorised from the OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY.
CALL THIS OFFICE IMMEDIATELY FOR MORE HELP. +2347064906069.
We are also sorry for any inconvinences this might caused you previously or now in respect of collecting your total amount cash prize won.
We await to hear from you urgently.
Regards.
Barrister. Raymond Briggs.
+2347064906069
NEW DEVELOPMENT.
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