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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned 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: Mr. David Martins<EDTS@mail.com>
Reply-To: h.must41111@yahoo.com.ph
Date: Tue, 06 Dec 2016 15:59:22 -0800
Subject: --BANK DEPOSIT--
Dear Friend,
How are you and your family, I hope you all are doing well. I Mr. David Martins of ECO DEPOSIT TRUST SERVICES EDTS a division of ORA Bank in Cotonou Benin. I have been instructed to transfer the sum of US$2.7Million to you by our online banking system or ATM card by the order of Peter Hall a Philanthropist/Investor and a big customer of our bank.
Respond immediately filling the below form correctly to enable me give you the online access
YOUR NAMES:.........................................................
YOUR ADDRESS:.....................................................
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:...............................................
NATIONALITY:..........................................................
YOUR MOBILE PHONE NUMBER:...................................
PASSPORT NUMBER:..................................................
DATE OF BIRTH:........................................................
SEX:.......................................................................
OCCUPATION/PROFESSION..........................................
POSITION.................................................................
Congratulation in advance.
Kind Regards
Mr. David Martins
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Anti-fraud resources:
