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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million pounds" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- 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.
- jamessmith1681@yahoo.com.cn (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr James Smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jamessmith1681@yahoo.com.cn>
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:48:03 -1200
Subject: Hello...
Dear friend,
My Name is Mr. James Smith, a senior Auditor and Heading-computing department here in our bank.
On my routine inspection I discovered a dormant domiciliary account with a balance of £35 million (THIRTY FIVE MILLION POUNDS ONLY). I have only written to seek your assistance in transferring this fund.
The owner of the fund was a foreigner, late Mr. Thomas Stockley. An American Citizen who unfortunately lost his life in the plane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which crashed on
January 31 2000. I am proposing to make this transfer to a designated bank account of your choice.
You can view this link for more details about the plane crash
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Airlines_Flight_261#Passengers
Note that this transaction is confidential and risk free. As soon as you receive this mail you should contact me by return mail. In the event you are not interested, I sincerely ask that you disregard this email and tell no one about it. I am very careful on truncating my banking career should you mention this to someone else. I hope you can be trusted in this regard.
Please note that all necessary arrangement for the smooth release of these funds to you has been finalized. We will discuss much in details when I do receive your response. Your share will be 30% of the total transfer sum after the transfer has been successfully concluded.
Please in your response include your telephone and fax numbers for a better communication between us. You can reach me on the email below:
Let me know if you can handle it.
Best Regards,
Mr James Smith
My contact details:
Email: jamessmith1681@yahoo.com.cn
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