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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:
- "money gram" (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 fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +229 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)
Fraud email example:
From: SHELLA BURNT <ts321019667574@gmail.com>
Reply-To: SHELLA BURNT <money.gram0@qq.com>
Date: Fri, 3 Apr 2015 02:11:47 +0900 (JST)
Subject: TRANSACTION CODE AX001DAWU
CONTACT MONEY GRAM WITH YOUR TRANSACTION CODE AX001DAWU
I have contacted you because I've sent you the first payment of $8,000 today from your winning funds total amount of $9.5Million USD, Therefore you need to contact money gram agent Mr. John Smith for him to give you the transfer payment information and reference number.
Agent: Mr. John Smith
Phone: +229_68504673
Do not forget to furnish him with the below data;
1. Your full Names: ...................
2. Your current cell phone Number:.....
3. Your City: ..........................
4. Your: Country:........................
5. Your Current Age and Occupation:...........
Please try to contact him today for him to forward the payment information to you, Remember to Indicate the registration code of AX001DAWU to him when e-mailing or calling him, Also he will be sending you $8,000.00 daily as per my discussion with him.
Do get in touch with me once you have got the transfer.
Sincerely,
SHELLA BURNT
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