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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "money orders " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- bsmith79790@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "VWR International LLC" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bsmith79790@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 11:11:23 +0200
Subject: Employment
Hello
VWR International LLC a global laboratory supply and distribution company is headquartered in West Chester PA with worldwide sales of $3.5 billion and employs over 6 500 associates in over 20 countries. VWR enables science by supplying scientific apparatus.Our team Job Description VWR is searching for highly motivated sales entrepreneurs who excel at both delighting their existing customers and who are particularly adept at acquiring new customers.
We have sales representatives all over the world to distribute our products, your task is to coordinate payments from customers and payment process. You are not involved in any sales. Our Sales Representative makes direct contact for sales of products. Once orders are received and sorted we deliver the product to a customer (usually through FEDEX). The customer receives and checks the products. After this has been done The customer has to pay for the products. About 90 percent of our customers prefer to pay through Certified Checks and Money orders based on the amount involved.
YOUR TASK
We have decided to open this new job position for solving this problem.
Your tasks are;
1. Receive payment from Customers
2. Payment processing
3. Keeping records of various transactions
Interested applicants should send an email to: (bsmith79790@gmail.com) with the subject bodly written "Sales Reps Application".
As soon as we receive your email another email will be sent to you shortly notifying the status of your application
Thanks
Brian Smith
VWR Recruiting Dept,
110 Hiltop St
LOS Angeles, CA 90013
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Anti-fraud resources:
