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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: Gabriel Osidarokwo <westernunion@westernunion-gh.net>
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2011 21:17:23 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Dear Valid Customer
Dear Valid Customer,
We are contacting you to notify you that your file was brought to our fund dispatch office today and it is already going through every official process to get your funds to you, and in order to protect our valued customer funds we have to verify that we are writing to the beneficiary, western union Ghana/Lome implores you to provide the following information for authentication.
1.FULL NAME
2.ADDRESS
3.COUNTRY
4.TELEPHONE
5.A SCAN COPY OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT OR DRIVERS LICENSE
Upon receiving this email western union will make a follow up of your funds to you within 24 hours and it will be made available for you to pick up at any western union location.
Western union is here to serve all our valued customers better.
Yours faithfully,
Gabriel Osidarokwo.
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Anti-fraud resources:
