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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "the consignment" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "consignment " (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "million dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447024094149 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- melbethell@rocketmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Steve Mcdonalds" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <stvmcdon@mail.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2012 16:49:14 -0700
Subject: Unread Message From Steve Mcdonalds..
Hello ,
How are you?this is my 4th email message to you and am hoping you respond to this,its been a long time and I just want to let you know that a lot was spent to get the consignment out of the security company and finally everything is over and completed.A genuine contact did it for us and have been duely compensated from the proceeds of the consignment worth $17.5million USD.You have also been compensated with the sum of $2million dollars from the whole transaction for your past efforts.I hope this is satisfactory?
Please Contact the Banker for further details.
Name: Mr. Mel Bethell
Tel: +447024094149
Email: melbethell@rocketmail.com
Kindly inform him that you are the beneficiary of $2,000,000.00 Million United States Dollars from Steve Mcdonalds.He will guide you through the process of getting your money wired to you via Bank to Bank Wire Transfer to your account in your country as i have since relocated and have started a new life with my own share of the proceeds from the consignment.
Thanks a lot my friend,you should always write me to keep me abreast of the whole process until the money is in your account.
Yours Truly,
Steve Mcdonalds.
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