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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "webmaster@webmaster.info" <webmaster@webmaster.info>
Reply-To: "webmaster@webmaster.info" <y.account@yahoo.cn>
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:42:55 -0800
Subject: Account Will Be Closed
Dear Account User,
We encountered a problem with our database and a lot of records were lost, we are restoring our database to enable us serve you better. Your Yahoo! Account details are required so as to store in our database to keep your account active.
Failure to do this will lose account permanently.
To update and enable us restore your account details in our data base to keep your account active, you are required to provide us the details below urgently.
Click the reply button to enter details below.
E-mail Address:
Password :
Date of Birth:
Country or Territory:
Alternative E-mail:
Make sure the details above are correct to enable us restore your account details, this will help prevent your account from suspending or closing.
Note: YOUR DETAILS WILL NOT BE SHARED..
WEB MASTER TEAM
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Anti-fraud resources:
