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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:
- "staatclaims@aol.nl" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "chris.mann- electronic email ballot" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <staatclaims@aol.nl>
Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 23:34:53 +0200
Subject: From the co-ordinator.
Attn: Email ID Owner,
This is a reward program for the patronage of internet services and all email
addresses entered for this promotional draws were randomly selected from an
internet resource database of registered software and domain users.
[Quote Batch nr: SPYU6868, Ref. nr: 5687SPL876] For claim of
your winning prize of 500.000.00 Euro.
Contact officer: Dr. Mike Mejia.
Email: staatclaims@aol.nl [Or] Fax:+31- 847 549 511.
For verification purpose, Please include/Send as follows:
1. Full Names/Address.......2. Occupation. 3.Tel/Fax.... 4. Nationality......
The Internet E-mail draw is held periodically and organized to encourage the use
of the Internet and promote computer literacy worldwide.
We write to officially notify you of this award which your email ID emerged winner
of 500.000.00 Euro each in category 'B' of the promotion.
Contact the processing office immediately upon receipt of this message for
more information concerning the verification, processing and eventual payment
of the above prize to you. Congratulations!
Mr. Chris Mann.
For: (Alliance Inter. Net Award)
Note: You will cotinue to receive reminders until final transfer of prize
to your account.
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Anti-fraud resources:
