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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "CITIC GUOAN" <info@info.com>
Reply-To: inguoanca50@yahoo.cn
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:32:08 -0600
Subject: REPRESENTATIVE IS NEEDED
Dear Sir/Madam,
First and Foremost,i wish to introduce to you CITIC GUOAN GROUP Ltd.This
company was established in 2005 and also Registered with the chinese
Government.This Company is based in China and have severals Branches in
Asia and is in Chinese Business Directory.
We are Basically Into NETWORKING(Computers).
Presently,we are faced with some problems most especially with our payment
methods as most of our clients prefer to pay us CHEQUE OR VIA WIRE
TRANSFER(HELOC)/CREDIT CARD REFILLING Rather than cash.we Find it very
cumbersome in accepting such payments method due to the new monetary
policy in our banking systems here in China and this is crippling our
business as the nature of our business is capital intensive.
We have numerous customers and we cannot afford to loose them due to this
problem we are facing.
We hereby request for your candid hand in partnership to act as our
payment Reciever Officer for CITIC GUOAN GROUP CHINA,YOU will now receive
payment on Behalf of our Company from our Customers .
Your Benefit is 10% for each payment you receive on our Behalf and this
shall be a continous process.
To indicate your interest please send to us
Full Names:
Your Contact Address:
Telephone and Fax Number:
Occupation:
Age:
Name of Company,if any:
Upon Receipt of this Requested informations,i shall provide you with the
necessary Details of how to finally become our Company Payment Receiver
Officer and is RISK
Please send your Response to the EMAIL:
inguoanca50@yahoo.cn
Your Sincerly
Engr.Alvin Zhang(CEO).
CITIC GUOAN GROUP.
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