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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: "Admin" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <help.desk@9.cn>
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:38:31 -0400
Subject: - Attention! E-Mail Account User.
Dear E-Mail account users,
This is to inform all our webmail users that we are currently upgrading our data base to enable us protect your account against harmful virus and spam/junk mails. As a Subscriber you are advised to verify your account by sending your informations to enable us update and verify your account.
You are to send the dtails needed below:
EMAIL VERIFICATION FORM.
Full names: ................
E-mail address..............
Correct Password:............
Date of Birth :.............
You are to email your information above by relying this email.
Be informed that we will be deleting all mail account that is not functional to enable us create more space for new subscribers. Warning!!! Failure to update your account on receipt of this warning will result to termination of your account. Please do ensure to act as directed to enable us serve you better.
Sincerely,
Support Team.
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Anti-fraud resources:
