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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:
- "money gram" (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. )
- "mtcn" (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. )
- "deadline" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "felix.moore@ymail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Offce Note <eleonora.arcai@alice.it>
Reply-To: felix.moore@ymail.com
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 15:05:24 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: OPPORTUNITY TO RECEIVE YOUR (US$1.750.000.00)....
Today your Compensation payment file is about to disconnect,tomorrow is deadline and only opportunity you have to receive it from our bank.Please what are you saying? the amount has been reduce because now what you have to pay is $67.00 only to re-activate your file, get back to us now against Tomorrow deadline to enable us meet up the transfer,also remember to include your bank account details where you want us to transfer (US$1.750.000.00) you can send us the money $67.00 use below information to send Via Money Gram,Hurry up please so that your payment file will not be disconnect;
Receiver's Name: UBA ANTHONY
Country:Benin Republic
City: Cotonou
MTCN....
Felix Moore
e-mail:felix.moore@ymail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
