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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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.
- 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.
- mrspamelacoop@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Pamela Cooper" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrspamelacoop@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Dec 2015 13:52:57 -0600
Subject: INVITATION TO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE (TEXAS USA)
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the International Refugee Care Organization, we are delighted to invite you to join us at the International Conference for the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (ICPVIAC 2016) taking place from February 15th to 19th 2016 at the MIA Conference Center 948 Texas Avenue. TX 77002 Houston Texas United States..
This Conference will bring together practitioners, researchers and educators from around the world who are engaged in Social Work and Social Development. The conference will focus on ways to tackle the present European refugee crisis and measures to assist victims.
All interested delegate that requires entry visa to attend this meeting in the United States will be assisted by the organization in obtaining visa in their passport.
The conference welcomes paper presentation from any interested participants willing to present papers during the conference. For more information, please contact Prof.
Pollex Smith via Email: ICPVIAC2016@secretary.net
Sincerely,
Mrs. Pamela Cooper
Co-coordinator ICPVIAC 2016
Email: mrspamelacoop@gmail.com
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Anti-fraud resources: