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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "activation 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. )
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "1stflight01@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.
- 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: "Western Union Payment Dpt" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <1stflight01@w.cn>
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:46:17 +0100
Subject: KINDLY CONTACT THEM WITH THIS REGISTRATION NUMBER:Code(0113399)
Dear Friend
This is to bring to your notice that I have paid the re-activation fee
and the delivery of your ATM Card. I paid it because the ATM Card worth
of US$8.7M has less than Seven days to expire and when it expires, the
money will go into Federal Government treasury account With that I decided to help you pay off the money so that the ATM Card will not expire, because I trust that when you receive your ATM Card definitely you must pay me back my money and even compensate me for helping you.
This is the registration Number of your ATM CARD Firstflight122p/mtm/2010) Zip Code (0113399).
Now I want you to contact First Flight Courier Services Benin with your
physical address such as below, and contact them with this registration number (Firstflight/122p/mtm/2010) Zip Code (0113399).
1.YOUR FULL NAME..
2.HOME ADDRESS.......................
3.HOME
PHONE.........................
4 YOUR CELPHONE NUMBER...............
5.A SCAN COPY OF YOUR PHOTO..........
6.YOUR AGE AND MARITAL STATUS........
7.SEX................................
8.YOUR COUNTRY.......................
You prefer the delivery to be made so that they can deliver your ATM
Card to your designated address without any delay.
Like I stated earlier, the delivery charges has been paid but I did not
pay their official keeping fees since they refused. They refused and the
reason is that they do not know when you are going to contact them and
the demur rage might have increased. They told me that their keeping
fees are US$30 per day and I deposited it on Thursday 16th December, 2010.
Below is the Contact Information of the First Flight Courier Services Cotonou Benin:
Contact Person: Mr.Ngozi Hugo
Company: First Flight Courier Services Benin
E-mail Address: 1stflight01@w.cn
Tel: +22999415013
Contact them today to avoid increase of their Official keeping fees and let me know once you receive your ATM card.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Joy Goodluck
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Anti-fraud resources:
