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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "limx" <limx@wxmedi.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 19:01:24 -1100
Subject: YOUR ATM CARD READY
Dear beneficiary,,
Your ATM CARD worth 3.5 million Euro will be ready in few days and your house address and complete telephone number is needed so it can be sent to you through an EMS SPEED POST to your house address. I just want to remind you of this from my private email address in-case if all requirement are met our Customer Service department will then write you through the bank site.
Kindly reply back to me for further instructions.
Best Regards.
Rev, Mario Christ.
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Anti-fraud resources: