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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: UNITED NATIONS COMPESAATION <emason@siscom.net>
Reply-To: mr.john.varley34@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2010 21:08:52 -0400
Subject: United Nations Has Compensated You
The United Nations has agreed to compensate all the people that had an
unfinished transaction or international Fund transfer that failed due to
Government problem or those that have been Frauded in the Internet by
dubious Individuals.The sum of £550,000.00 GBP was issued to each of you
We found your name in our list as one of the beneficiary and that is why
we are contacting you through this medium.
This have been agreed upon and have been signed.
You are advised now to contact (MR JOHN VARLEY ) of
NatWest Bank UK via his Email Address: ( mr.john.varley34@live.com )
as he is our representative who is in charge of disposing the bank draft
to you.
You are to Send the information below to (MR JOHN VARLEY ) via his email
address:
( mr.john.varley34@live.com ) for the immediate delivery of your Draft to you.
Full Names (Surname First).......
Current Address..................
Country..........................
Telephone #......................
Age..............................
Occupation......................
Contact him immediately with the requested information above for
your compensation Bank Draft of £550,000.00 USD.
Have a nice day and Hope you use this Money Wisely
Regards,
Bruce Ferg
Secretary General (UNITED NATIONS)
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Anti-fraud resources: