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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs Judith Rhodes" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tntdispatch@mail.bg>
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 08:28:20 +0530
Subject: Contact TNT with Reg code # XGT0283
Dear,
We are hereby officially notifying you about the present arrangement to settled your outstanding compensation/inheritance funds worth of $2.5M USD through MASTER CARD, this arrangement was Initiated/constituted by the World Bank and you are advised to Contact TNT Express Courier with registration code of (XGT0283)and your details where they will effect the delivery of the master card to you as soon as possible.
FULL NAMES: / COUNTRY: / STATE: / TELEPHONE: / OCCUPATION: / GENDER: / DELIVERY ADDRESS: / COPY OF ID CARD
Contact TNT Express Company Via Email: (tntdispatch@mail.bg)
Contact Person (Hanson Greens)
Note: we have paid for the Insurance & Delivery fee.The only fee you have to pay is their Security fee only.Please indicate the registration CODE NO, and ask Him how much is their Security fee so that you can pay it.
Thank you.
Mrs.Judith Rhodes
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Anti-fraud resources:
