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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "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.
- 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.
- transferoffc@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: WESTERN UNION OFFICE <officdesk@gmail.com>
Reply-To: transferoffc@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2012 01:59:59 +0100
Subject: RE
--
Attention: Please Dear Sir/Madam,
This is to inform you of the recent development on our central system
here in ACCRA GHANA which was hacked by internet hackers and have
deleted your payment information’s from our system regarding your
winning payment of $1.8m usd which you are suppose to be receiving
$4000 usd daily payment from Western Union agent PASTOR FRANK OKON,
the email has changed to the information below:
WESTER UNION AGENT: PASTOR FRANK OKON,
Email: transferoffc@gmail.com
Office#: +233 268 645 733.
ACCRA GHANA
You have to send $65 usd to him to enable him register your payment
online with your information for you to start receiving your daily
payment from Western Union agent over there in your city.
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Anti-fraud resources:
