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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:
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "international remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "federal republic of benin" (Benin, Cameroon, etc. are no Federal Republics, unlike Nigeria where this type of scam was invented)
- "atm.atm1@w.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "atm.atm1@w.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Williams White" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <atm.atm1@w.cn>
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 1980 07:21:35 -0800
Subject: Letter from Mr. Williams
E-CO BANK FOR AFRICA -INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
atm.atm1@w.cn
Atm Processing Unit
Direct Line (Office):
E-CO BANK for Africa.
West Africa. Benin Republic
Hot line:+234-8033431659
ATTN
MESSAGE FROM E-CO BANK OF AFRICA (E-CO BANK)
WE ARE INSTRUCTED BY MINISTRY OF FINANCE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF BENIN REPUBLIC IN CONJUNCTION WITH ORAGNIZATION OF AFRICA UNITY (AU) TO PROCESS YOUR OUT STANDING PAYMENT THROUGH ATM MASTER CARD. WE WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT (E-CO BANK FOR AFRICA) BANK HAS ALL THE FACILITIES PUT IN PLACE IN OTHER TO TRANSFER YOUR MONEY WITH OUT DELAY.
YOU ARE ADVICE TO CONFIRM YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IF YOU ARE STILL ALIVE BECAUSE I GOT A LETTER FROM ONE BARRISTER (NAME WITHELD) THAT YOU ARE DEAD BUT DUE TO UNPRECENDENTED HAPPENING HERE I WAS INSTRCUTED TO WRITE YOU, HAVING CALLED YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER WITHOUT ANSWER THE MACHINE SAID THE LINE IS TEMPORARILY OUT OF SERVICE.
YOUR EMAIL ID WAS RECOVERED FROM CENTRAL COMPUTER AFTER BEING DELETED BY CORRUPT OFFICIALS YET TO BE KNOWN TO DIVERT YOUR FUNDS AND RECEIVE THE ATM CARD. WITH THE ATM CARD YOU WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE A WITHDRAW OF US$7,500 .00 OR EQUIVALENT IN YOUR LOCAL CURRENCY IN ANY ATM MACHINE NEAR YOU. INFORMATION HAS IT THAT THIS AMOUNT WAS A KIND OF COMPENSATION BY THE GOVERNMENT TO PAY YOU BACK FOR MONEY YOU LOST WHEN YOU WERE SCAMMED.
DUE CONSIDER IMPORTANT BY PROVIDING BELOW INFORMATION
• YOUR COMPLETE NAME
• HOME/COMPANY ADDRESS
• SELF MOBILE TELLPHONE NUMBER
• YOUR TELL FAX
• YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT OR YOUR DRIVING LICENSE
• YOUR OCCUPATION
• YOUR AGE
AS SOON AS WE CONFIRM ABOVE DETAILS (E-CO BANK) INTER-CREDITING DEPARTMENT WOULD RESUME IMMEDIATE PROCESSING OF YOUR ATM MASTER CARD OR YOU CAN AS WELL BE PAID VIA CABLE WIRE TRANSFER AS YOU WISHED.UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA BENIN REPUBLIC (ECO) WILL NOT IN ANY WAY BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY FALSE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY YOU.
REGARDS,
Mr.Williams White
Reply atm.atm1@w.cn
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