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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:
- "a security company " (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. )
- "trunk box" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Patricia Vincent <patriciavincent31@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: patvin1960@cantv.net
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:13:21 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Bless you
Bless you,
It's true we do not know each other but God knows us all.I have a pressing need at the moment which is some one to stand as my beneficiary to claim my late husband's one trunk box deposit with a security company here in Republic of Benin, I wanted to claim it but they reffered me to an agreement they reached with my husband the very day he made the deposit that only his registered next of kin being myself will introduce a foreign beneficiary to them who will claim the box on behalf of me. My husband's family members are seriously searching for my whereabout to collect the documents of the deposit from me but I have ran out of the village to another town with the documents so I plead that you help me secure the box which contains the sum of $10m inside it though my husband registered it as containing family valuables for security reasons, please don't hesitate to reply immediately for me to send you the contact address of the security company here in
Republic of Benin and introduce you to them as my late husband's foreign beneficiary.
I await your positive reply.
Regards.
Mrs Patricia Vincent.
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Anti-fraud resources: