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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
- 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.
- barclaycustomerservice@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=E7=E9=E9=ED_=F9=F8=E9=E9=E1=F8?=" <haimsh@shoresh.org.il>
Reply-To: barclaycustomerservice@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2013 09:02:03 +0200
Subject: Urgent !
This is to officially notify you that you have been selected as one of the few
beneficiary of 2011 United Nations in Collaboration with Uk national lottery 65th
anniversary Compensation and all the people that have an unfinished transaction or
international Fund transfer that failed due to Government problem or those that have been
Frauded in the Internet by dubious Individuals.We found your email in our list as one of
the beneficiary. You have been compensated with $550,000.00USD by United Nations as a
sign to help the less privilege worldwide.You are to confirm the following information
from Jefferson.Johnson of Barclays Bank United Kingdom.
Email:barclaycustomerservice@hotmail.com
Contact Jefferson.Johnson only with the email above.
Full Names (Surname First)
Current Address.
Country .
Telephone .
Age.
Contact him immediately with the requested information above for
your International Bank Draft of USD$ 550,000.00 USD. Have a nice day
and Hope you use this Money Wisely
Regards,
BAN KI-MOON(General Secretary United Nations)
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Anti-fraud resources: