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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:
- "transfer of your funds" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "m_softfunds@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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Microsoft Team" <neha13575@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: m_softfunds@w.cn
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:12:41 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Confidential
ATTN: Email User
I wish to use the medium to thank you for your patronage and to also tell
you that I feel bad that my invention which made me the wealthiest
overall person in world from 1995 to 2009, excluding 2008, has robbed you
of your funds, hard work and played with your Emotions true SCAM for this
reason I and the entire Microsoft team has put together a Compensation
fund worth $93.5Million U.S.D as a meduim of giving back to the world for
their support, in which millions of email addresses were randomly shuffled
and your email I.D came out as 2nd place group winner of $500.000.U.S.D
and you are not to pay any upfront fee for receiving this compensation
quickly contact Microsoft desk attendant (Robert .P. Allen) with your
details to forward to the bank for immediate transfer of your funds on
(m_softfunds@w.cn) along with the following details
NAME
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
COUNTRY:
PHONE NO:
HOME ADDRESS:
EMAIL:
Thank you
Regards
Bill Gates
Chairman of Microsoft
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Anti-fraud resources:
