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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:
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- beninrepublica@yahoo.com (Yahoo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Payment Committee <markmrs.julie@yahoo.cn>
Reply-To: beninrepublica@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2012 00:55:33 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Our ref: SNT/FRN/09
beninrepublica@yahoo.com
Our ref: SNT/FRN/09
This
is to officially inform you that an ATM CARD worth Six Million Three
Hundred
United States Dollars ($6.3MILLION USD) has been accredited in your favor.
Your Personal Identification Number is 2911.
Contact
the Verification Officer;
Name:
Mr. JIM NKOHH
Email:
beninrepublica@yahoo.com
With
the following information;
FULL
NAME:
COUNTRY:
DELIVERY
ADDRESS:
PHONE
NUMBER:
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
GENDER:
Male
Regard,
Payment
Committee
Federal
Ministry Of Finance
Benin
Republic Cotonou
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Anti-fraud resources:
