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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 message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Halifax Bank plc©" (may be fake)
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:00:13 -0800
Subject: Internet Banking Service.
Dear Customer
It has
come to our notice that online access to your Halifax online account has been inactive for
some time. This message has been sent to you in order to confirm your continued use of the
halifax online service. You are required to sign In to Online Service with a few additional
questions to confirm. Endeavour to match your information correctly with that on file. All fields are
required.
Sign In here to complete the brief confirmation
process.
Please Note: Ignoring this procedure means you
wish to discontinue online access to your account.
Internet banking Team Halifax Bank
plc 2010 All Rights Reserved
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Anti-fraud resources: