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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 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.
- +447045789656 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: Carnegie Consultancy <carnegiejohn1@ymail.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:33:07 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: RESERVATION
HELLO,
MY NAME IS JOHN CARNEGIE FROM UNITED KINGDOM. PLEASE LET THIS PROPOSAL NOT COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE. I GOT YOUR CONTACT FROM WEB DIRECTORY AND I DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU TO ASSIST US IN BOOKING FOR A GROUP OF 6 PEOPLE THAT WILL BE ARRIVING YOUR LOCATION FOR A FOR A FOURTEEN DAYS VACATION EVENT (14 DAYS) IN AUGUST. WE WILL BE NEEDING THE FOLLOWING ACCOMMODATION FOR THE 6 GUESTS:
(1) ACCOMMODATION : 6 GUESTS
(2) 3 DOUBLE ROOMS OR 6 SINGLE ROOMS
(3) ARRIVAL DATE: 4TH AUGUST 2011
(4) DEPARTURE DATE: 18TH AUGUST 2011
(5) NUMBER OF DAYS: 14 DAYS
PLEASE IF THERE IS AVAILABILITY, I WANT YOU TO CALCULATE TOTAL COST OF THE OFFER AND CONVERT IT TO EURO. IF THERE WILL BE ANY SPECIAL DISCOUNT I WILL REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
I AM WAITING FOR YOUR POSITIVE RESPONSE SOON.
REGARDS,
JOHN CARNEGIE.
340 Euston Road,
London NW1 2BE
UNITED KINGDOM
+447045789656
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Anti-fraud resources:
