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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "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.
- 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.
- usembassy356@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: MICHAEL RAYNOR <mrsdouglas720@gmail.com>
Reply-To: usembassy356@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2017 16:37:34 +0100
Subject: Greeting from U.S Embassy,
Greeting from U.S Embassy,
FROM U.S EMBASSY BENIN REPUBLIC-COTONOU OFFICE HOW ARE YOU TODAY WITH
YOUR FAMILY
I'm Michael Raynor From U.S embassy Benin Republic, I was newly appointed as
ambassador to Benin Republic and i wanted to inform you that i saw your name
in one of the files here with some payment details which you made to receive
your fund but i don't know what happened that Mr. James Knight who
left this office did not
allow you to receive your fund,I decided to write you if you may still be
interested to get your fund through the power of this office and i know that
something went wrong or may be they demanded so much money from you which
you are unable to pay but i will try my best as a new appointed ambassador to
Benin Republic and i will make sure that you receive your fund through wire
transfer this time around to avoid any story again.I was so shocked when i
saw your name here and you are very lucky that he did not clean away
your name which means
that i can still locate you through your email address and
i'm so sorry for whatever has happened and how much you spent in the past
but be rest assured that i will never disappoint you like Mr James Knight did
and all i need from you now is to
re-confirm your contact address and your bank details where you will
like to receive
your fund and all it will cost you is $125 to renew your Certificate of
ownership with your payment file,and you are paying the$125 to the attorney
who will do the work so that i can put my signature to enable you
receive your $8.9m after
all the delays.Please fill this with your contact details and write back to
me if you are ready for this,
?
Your full name.....................
Your Country and City address.................
Your Home address........................
Your age and occupation..............................
Your private phone number and sex...................
Single or married..............................
I will wait to hear from you as soon as you receive this email and
write back to me
(usembassy356@gmail.com)
MICHAEL RAYNOR.
United States Ambassador to the Republic of Benin
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Anti-fraud resources:
