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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.
- 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.
- +447045704575 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs Tricia Benson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrsveronicawilliams09@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 16:58:44 +0100
Subject: URGENT BENEFICIARY NEEDED FOR FUND CLEARANCE PAYMENT
This letter is from The IMF Committee on Fund Management And Payment newly inaugurated by the World Financial Services Authority of The United Nations.
This committee was set up to discover all outstanding unpaid/unclaimed fund being owned by Governments or Individuals all over the globe through Contract Payment/Inheritance and Lottery Winning Prize Awards.
Through our investigation last week, it may interest you to know that we discovered an unclaimed fund in your favor and we have been mandated to ensure that this fund gets to you without any delay.
Therefore you are required to confirm your full name, address and telephone number to enable us create a payment file regarding the release of your fund immediately.
Yours Faithfully,
Direct line:+4470457 04575
Mr.Mark Allen
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Anti-fraud resources:
