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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "required fee " (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. )
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "cheque " (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.
- dhlcouriercmpn332@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "DR.Fred Lugan" <mrs.asiyahahmed@att.net>
Reply-To: dhlcouriercmpn332@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:31:40 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Hello Dear Friend,
Hello Dear Friend,
I have paid the required fee for your Bank Draft and i took it to the FINANCIAL BANK PLC to confirm it then the Manager of the Bank MR BENARD UGO told me that before the CHEQUE will get to you it will expire on the way and if it expired it will become useless to you, so He advice me to convert USD$4.5m (FOUR MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) into cash and pack it into the strong iron box and deposit it in DHL COURIER SERVICE to deliver it in cash to you.and I did it as he advice me because he is a banker he knows the durability of any foreign Bank Draft or Cheque.I deposited the said package in the.
DHL Delivery Company as an Cotton materials for secuirty reasons, This is the registration Number of your Package ( dhl/122p/mtm/20888707) Zip Code (0113388)So do not let the company to know the real contents of the package so that they can deliver it for you safely.I want you to contact the company immediately with the following information although i give them your information but you need to reconfirm it for them.Below is the required information you need to give them now.
1. YOUR FULL NAME..........
2. HOME ADDRESS.........
3. HOME PHONE..............
4. YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER................
5. A SCAN COPY OF YOUR PHOTO.........
6. YOUR AGE AND MARITAL STATUS..........
7. YOUR COUNTRY...............
8. YOUR OCCUPATION.........
All these is needed from you now to submit to the company for urgent delivery of your package which contains USD $4.5m (FOUR MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) Please contact the delivery company immediately and reconfirm your information to them to enable their Agent locate you when he arrived in your country (CITY) Airport.
This is the company contact info.
Email;(dhlcouriercmpn332@gmail.com)
Tel;+2299811685
DR.Fred Lugan
Director General, DHL Delivery Courier Company Benin Republic.
Please contact the company immediately you receive this email so that your package will leave tonight to be deliver to you. Like i stated earlier, The delivery charges has been paid but i did not pay their official keeping fees since they refused. They refused and the reason is that they do not know when you are going to contact them and dumurrage might have increase.
Best Regards
JERRY MARKU.
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