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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:
- "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- 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.
- eaglewarehousestorage@hotmail.com (Hotmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Joseph Anderson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <eaglewarehousestorage@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2015 16:44:56 +0100
Subject: Your Package!
Hello,
I am glad to inform you that I have finally completed the transaction with the help and support of my new partner from Bahamas, and I drop a Certified international bank draft in your name valued the sum of US$3.5Million to the storage office in New York. Kindly get in touch with Mr. Larry Swanson, he is the storage officer in charge. Contact him on 1-(917) 3872914 or Email address: (eaglewarehousestorage@hotmail.com) to release this Bank Draft directly to you
Thanks.
Barr. Joseph Anderson.
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Anti-fraud resources:
