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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "western union" (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. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
Fraud email example:
From: Suuny Smith <e_two34@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2010 16:20:30 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=28=24_4=2E000_usd=29_el_dep=F3sito_?=
Suuny Smith es mi nombre, soy 19 años de edad y soy también un niño de orfanato Zenith orfanato en África occidental Nigeria y le escribo para pedir ayuda financiera, porque me dura un problema del corazón y el médico me dijo que eso es necesario una intervención quirúrgica de urgencia y tengo que depositar el importe de (cuatro mil dólares) para llevar a cabo la operación y no tengo nada de dinero para depositar, así que decidí ir en Internet y llegar a las personas de apoyo financiero y el buen Dios se bendiga ricamente a cualquier cuerpo que me apoyen con cualquier cantidad después de leer este correo y yo estaremos muy agradecidos a cualquier organismo que me transmita una copia escaneadas de depósito de Western Union deslizamiento tan pronto como él o ella hizo de apoyo de cualquier cantidad a través del oeste la unión con el doctor operationer con los siguientes detalles.
1:::: Doctor Nombre completo ==== Larry Tom
2:::: West Country ======= África Nigeria
Y pido que el buen Dios apoyará cualquier cuerpo que me apoyan y yo estoy pidiendo que me apoyen después de leer este mail.
Gracias.
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Anti-fraud resources:
