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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Microsoft Award" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <vathkoan@uneta.org>
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 09:42:36 -0800
Subject: Microsoft Award
On behalf of the MICROSOFT INTERNET Compensation Award Ending December 2011, we wish
to notify you as a beneficiary of £850, 000, 00(Eight Hundred And Fifty thousand
Great British Pounds Sterling).You are to fill the
appropriate form and submit to the Mrs Vath Koan.
[1] Full Names:________________
[2] Contact address______________________________
[3] Direct Telephone No: ________________
|4| Occupation : _________________________
[5] Age :_______________
In Service,
Ms Vath Koan
Foreign Transaction Manager
Contact Email:vath_koan@uneta.org
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Anti-fraud resources:
