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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- 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.
- jamesmorgan8114@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "JAMES MORGAN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jamesmorgan8114@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2010 14:51:59 +0200
Subject: (ATM-811)
CONFIRM YOUR STATE INHERITANCE FUNDS
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA
TINUBU SQUARE,VICTORIA ISLAND
LAGOS-NIGERIA.
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR ATM UNIT
FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
This is to officially inform you that ATM card number: 4000 1010 2571 7101 worth (US$8.3 Million) has been credited in your favor in bid to
compensate you on your contract payment since you are next on our
inheritance file for the first part of this fiscal Year 2010.
Your personal identification is ATM- 9467.You are advised that a maximum
withdrawal value of US$5,000 is permitted daily.
Kindly send to me your informations for proper verification and claim
processing:
NAME: JAMES MORGAN
EMAIL: jamesmorgan8114@gmail.com
Full Name.
Delivery Address.
Occupation.
Phone Number.
Fax Number.
Age.
sex.
NOTE:-You are also required to send to the verification officer/agent a
means of Identification which should be a scan copy of your Driver's
License or International Passport for proper verification and
authentication.
YOU ARE TO STOP ANY FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITH ANY OTHERPERSON(S)OR
OFFICE(S)TO AVOID ANY HITCH IN RECEIVING YOUR PAYMENT. NOTE THAT BECAUSE
OF IMPOSTORS, WE HEREBY ISSUE YOU OUR CODE OF CONDUCT, WHICH IS (ATM-811)
SO YOU HAVE TO INDICATE THIS CODE WHEN CONTACTING THE CARD CENTER BY USING
IT AS YOUR SUBJECT.
Regards
James Morgan
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