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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "The Helpdesk Program" <helpdesk@mail.com>
Reply-To: helpdesk1@movmail.com
Date: Sat, 1 May 2010 02:23:33 +0800 (PHT)
Subject: Important: Email Account Verification Update ! ! !
The Helpdesk Program that periodically checks the size of your e-mail
space is sending you this information. The program runs weekly to
ensure your inbox does not grow too large, thus preventing you from
receiving or sending new e-mail. As this message is being sent, you
have 18 megabytes (MB) or more stored in your inbox. To help us reset
your space in our database, please enter your current
User name (___________) Password (_________)
You will receive a periodic alert if your inbox size is between 18 and
20 MB. If your inbox size is 20 MB, a program on your Webmail will
move your oldest e-mails to a folder in your home directory to ensure
you can continue receiving incoming e-mail. You will be notified this
has taken place.
If your inbox grows to 25 MB, you will be unable to receive new e-mail
and it will be returned to sender. All this is programmed to ensure
your e-mail continues to function well.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Help Desk.
Important: Email Account Verification Update ! ! !
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Anti-fraud resources:
