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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:
- "moneygram" (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. )
- "money gram" (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. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- MoneyGram money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. Along with Western Union it is a preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
- 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: Esther Richard <yccustomerc622@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: moneygram41@live.com
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2011 00:30:04 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: PICK UP YOUR MONEY GRAM PAYMENT DETAILS
Good day,
This is the second time I am sending this email to you, I was instructed by my boss to send you the Money Gram information's for you to be able to collect part of the money that was supposed to be transferred to your
account.
Senders Names: Esther Richard.
Reference Numbers: #83465210
Amount Sent: $2125 USD.
Text Question: White
Text Answer: Walls
Senders Names: Esther Richard.
Reference Numbers: #54662101
Amount Sent: $2540 USD.
Text Question: White
Text Answer: Walls
Senders Names: Esther Richard.
Reference Numbers: #29986411
Amount Sent: $3930 USD.
Text Question: White
Text Answer: Walls
I am out of town and I will not be back until 13th of Dec 2011 Just go to the Money Gram Office and collect the money and in case you have any problem kindly contact the Money Gram agent at the e-mail below for help. (moneygram41@live.com) you can call these numbers for help: +229-989-50-263
Note I will not be able to respond to your email, if you have any problem contact the Money Gram agent via the information above.
Thanks,
Esther Richard.
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