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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:
- "security keeping fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "fedexdelivery82@qatar.io" (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.
- 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: "Ecowas Grant Donation" <INFO@EWF.ORG> (may be fake)
Reply-To: fedexdelivery82@qatar.io
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2010 05:37:51 -0500 (ECT)
Subject: Grant Donation Cash...........
Abuja} the Head Quarters of the Ecowas todayafter the raffle draw has
given 850,000.00 (eight hundred and fifty thousand United states Dollars)
to 8 active users of the internet.you where lucky to be one of the active
users who emerged as a beneficiary.
For your information, the Mail, VAT & Shipping fees have been paid by the
Ecowas Grant AWard before your package was registered. What you
need to pay is the Security keeping fee of the FEDEX Company as stated in our
privacy terms & condition page, in order to secure your Package. The cost for
the Security keeping fee is $250USD
1.Name:
2.Sex:
3.Age:
4.Country:
5.Phone Number
:6.Occupation:
7.Address:
To Mr Cole as Head of Events at the GrantCenter Contact
Email:fedexdelivery82@qatar.io
Contact Tel:+2347062413952
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Este mensaje ha sido analizado por MailScanner
en busca de virus y otros contenidos peligrosos,
y se considera que está limpio.
For all your IT requirements visit: http://www.transtec.co.uk
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Anti-fraud resources:
