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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "event_secretary_gwi@globomail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "katharine_bernard@globomail.com" (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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: Katharine Bernard <katharine_bernard@globomail.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:42:50 -0500 (EST)
Subject: GWI SYMPOSIUM INVITATION
Dear Sir/Madam,
It gives me a great pleasure to invite you to the
forth coming international seminar which the Global Watch Institution is exited
to be hosting in January 24th to 29th 2011 at Webster hall New
York City USA, and from January 31st to February 4th 2011 at Euskalduna
Conference Centre and Concert Hall Madrid Spain.
The theme of the forth coming seminar are; Racism and
Human Right. Delegates who are interested to make a paper presentation are
advice to make a summary presentation on the above subject.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee, I request you
to kindly extend your
cooperation by giving wide publicity to the aforesaid workshop by
sharing this invitation among your staff, members or relatives for their
active participation in the workshop.
Note: the G.W.I will be providing all delegates with
to and fro Air ticket and also visa’s guidance for the seminar purpose. Looking
forward for your cooperation and support for the success of the workshop.
Registration is open now! Contact the organizing secretary Mrs. Angela C. Derick for more information.
Email: event_secretary_gwi@globomail.com
See you in the Seminar.
Regards
Miss Katharine Bernard
katharine_bernard@globomail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
