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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.
- +447045768990 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "Tim McCarron" <tim@ristorant.biz>
Reply-To: timmgg2010@yahoo.es
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2010 17:49:40 -0400
Subject: June Services.
Hello,
I am Tim McCarron from M&G Investments International London.I wish to make
reservation for 8 guests who will be coming to your country for a private
business
meeting.I want to make reservation for lunch and Dinner and varieties of
wines for the group events from June 22nd,23rd,24th and 25th of 2010.we
also need rooms.which of the mentioned services can provide?We would make
an initial deposit of $2,000 USD for the arrangements.
1)Do you have a credit card machine for charging of credit cards?
Please contact me back with your response and call me anytime.God bless you.
Regards,
Mr Tim Mccarron.
Cell: +447045768990
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Anti-fraud resources:
