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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "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. )
- "oceanicbk.atm.dept1@live.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: "BJacobs Const. Invest.Office" <bj00229900@yahoo.com.ph>
Reply-To: oceanicbk.atm.dept1@live.com
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:53:01 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: YOUR ATM CREDIT CARD PAYMENT.
Hello Dear friend,
I have contacted my secretary to confirm if you have received the compensation draft cheque of (US$1.500.000.00) which I issued in your name, but he told me that he could not send it to you because of the courier charges. Now I have called my bank to cancel any payment regards to that Bank Draft Cheque and then authorized them to transfer the payment into ATM CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT in your
name which they did.
Now be informed that the ATM CREDIT CARD is already in your name, therefore contact the bank and forward your current information as requested below to them to enable them send the ATM CREDIT CARD to you.
Here are the informations you will forward to the bank:
1. YOUR FULL NAMES:________
2. POSTAL ADDRESS:_________
3. PHONE NUMBER:___________
4. CELL NUMBERS:___________
5. EMAIL ADDRESS:__________
6. SEX:________
7. AGE:________
8. OCCUPATION:_________
9. NATIONALITY:________
CONTACT PERSON: Dr. Nelson M. Akabike.
Director, ATM Credit Card Account Dept.
Oceanic Bank Plc Cotonou, Benin Republic.
Tel/Fax: (229) 9571-6822.
Email: oceanicbk.atm.dept1@live.com
Then once you received the ATM CARD get back to me ok.
Thanks and God bless you.
Mr. Benson Jacobs.
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