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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:
- "western union" (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. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
Fraud email example:
From: michael lai <mich_lai@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: michael lai <michi_lai@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2014 15:56:17 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Terrible Incident!!!
How are you doing. Sorry for the urgent mail, I took a urgent visit to Portugal to see my sick sister who is suffering from a critical Heart disease called Cardiomyopathy and must undergo immediate surgery to save her life because her heart is extremely enlarged at the moment and breathing is very difficult. The news of her illness arrived to me as an emergency,she's going through a lot of pain at the moment and she needs family support to keep her going.
The doctors have advised that it is necessary that she is operated soon and the heart replaced to avoid any further complications. I hope you understand my plight and pardon me.
The estimate for the surgery is 14,000Euros. I have already spent approx. 12,200Euros cash towards her treatment so am wondering if you can assist me with a loan of 1,800Euros to make the necessary arrangement for the surgery to be carried out. Your help and support will give her a chance to live a normal life once again. I will surely pay you back as soon as I return.
I will appreciate whatever you can help me with. Kindly let me know if you can be of help so I can send you my western union details since I cannot operate my bank account from here...I promise to pay back as soon as I return home.
Regards
Michael
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Anti-fraud resources:
