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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 fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- 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.
- mrsmarthaozioma_1984@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs Martha Ozioma <info@ikobo.com>
Reply-To: mrsmarthaozioma_1984@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 00:02:04 +0800 (CST)
Subject: ATM CARD(Your PIN:8419)
Our Ref: IKG/NG/ICO
Your Ref: 14700
Dear Valued iKobo Visa Card Beneficiary ,
IKobo is a company that specializes in money transfer through Visa Card. As part of our commitment in bringing our services to the world, iKobo wishes to announce to you that your email emerged as one of the lucky winners to receive a grant of £100,000 GBP.
This fund would be made available to you through an iKobo Visa card. We have concluded plans to deliver this card to you as soon as possible. If you are interested in claiming your prize, please contact the Visa card dispatch center via email (mrsmarthaozioma_1984@yahoo.com.hk) with the following details:
mrsmarthaozioma_1984@yahoo.com.hk
* Full Name:
* Delivery Address:
* Sex:
* Age:
* Occupation:
* Phone Number:
* Country:
* Means Of Identification:
As soon as we receive the above details we shall immediately proceed with the delivery of your card. You have to stop communication with any other person(s) or office (s) to avoid hitches in receiving your payment of 100,000 GBP.Through our Visa Card. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Please Note: You will be required to pay the sum of only £125 Pound to for Delivery fees. After payment it is effected your card will get to your location within the next 24hrs.
Please if you are not willing to get the delivery fee of £125 Pound paid. Then do not reply to this mail so your winning can simply be canceled.
Kindest Regards
Mrs Martha Ozioma.
+2348037720076
Funds Remittance Department
Director Of Foreign Operations.
Website : www.ikobo.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
