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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "paymentatmcard33@gmail.com" (this email address looks like addresses used in "ATM SWIFT card" scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- 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.
- paymentatmcard33@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Regina Eidenhart" <tthefbi@gmail.com>
Reply-To: paymentatmcard33@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2021 10:13:02 +0100
Subject: Your Approved Payment
Dear Sir/Madam,
We write to inform you about your overdue Payment in our records. Your
email address is contained in our Central Computer unit in a list of unpaid
inheritance claims individuals. We therefore request that you have to
update your information through this channel for immediate confirmation.
Your email appeared among the beneficiaries due for a partial/full payment
of their overdue funds and your cooperation will help for immediate credit
to your account as payment has been approved already since October 2021.
However on the 26th of October 2021 we received an email from one Elizabeth
Juno who told us that she is your next of kin and that you died in a car
accident four months ago. She has also submitted her contact information to
the office department for the immediate processing of your payment to her
as your inheritor. We are now verifying by contacting your email address
which we already have in our records before we can proceed to deal with her
and probably perfect the payment process to make approved to her. We
therefore need confirmation if you are still alive or dead.
Kindly confirm your response immediately to us before we release and detail
to her against your name that is listed out. Upon this, I request you send
your full personal information as soon as possible to the Counselor Office
to enable them to finalize the payment process and advise you properly on
what to do.
We expect the below information from you:-
Your Full Names:_____________
Contact Address: _____________
Mobile Phone: _____________
Occupation: _____________
Age: _____________
In order to resolve this problem, Please contact (Counselor Office)
immediately for further directives via their below contact.
Contact Person: Mr. Gerald Kasper.
Email Address: paymentatmcard33@gmail.com
Thank you very much for your anticipated cooperation
Best Regards
Regina Eidenhart
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