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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.
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs Asiyah Ahmed <mrsasiyah_ahmed1960@yahoo.fr>
Reply-To: mrsasiyah14@live.fr
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:40:43 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Contact the payment officer immediately.
Hello Beneficiary
This is to inform you that
your fund through our Global intelligence monitoring network after our
due verification and consideration on your unclaimaed fund has been
approved for payment to you. The hold on your fund has been removed and
successfully credited into ATM CARD which is ready to be delivery to you
immediately.
Now, contact Dr.Mark Oliseh and ask him to send to
you the ATM CARD that valued at USD$1.5million, Contact him immediately
on his E-mail;boabeninbj@cnegal.com or Telephone Number;+229-97720133
and send to him the below information to enable him deliver your ATM
CARD to you.
1. YOUR FULL NAME: _________________
2.YOUR ADDRESS: ___________________
3.TELEPHONE NUMBER:_______________________
4.OCCUPATION:_________
5 AGE__.________________
Best Regards,
Mrs.Asiyah Ahmed
Information Officer
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Anti-fraud resources: