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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)
- "secretarygeneral@qq.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "secretarygeneral@qq.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: "Eduardo Constanzo Saavedra(virologia)" <econstanzo@ispch.cl>
Reply-To: "Dr.Andrew Weil's" <andrew_weil@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2014 04:15:18 -0300 (CLST)
Subject: IOFHR Invitation to participate International Convention 2014
Please for quick respond and for more information contact secretariat via email:secretarygeneral@qq.com
Dear Sir/Madam,
On behalf of the international organization for human rights we are delighted to invite you to the United State and Senegal for the Joint International Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms holding from 18th to 21st February 2014 in the United States and from 24th to 28th February in Senegal.
This Conference will bring together practitioners, researchers and educators from around the world who are engaged in Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
Interested delegate should contact the Conference Secretary for more information: via Email: secretarygeneral@qq.com
We look forward to welcoming you all.
Best regard,
Dr.Andrew Weil's
assistant field operations manager
ICPHRFF 2014
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Anti-fraud resources:
