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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:
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "claim.consultant@live.co.uk" (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: "Nokia Promo." <results@nokia.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: claim.consultant@live.co.uk
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2011 12:19:53 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: WINNING DRAWS
Congratulations!
Your code number 098664 has won you a prize money of £700,000.00
Pounds.Nokia is celebrating her 44 years anniversary and we are giving out
this lump sum as a way of showing our appreciation. For your claims,
Kindly send email to claim.consultant@live.co.uk for verification.
Nokia Mobile Promo.
(c) Nokia Connecting People
Disclaimer
Dit email bericht bevat vertrouwelijke informatie. Het bericht is om die reden
uitsluitend bestemd voor de daarin genoemde geadresseerde(n). Mocht dit Email
bericht bij vergissing bij u terecht zijn gekomen, gelieve dan contact met ons
op te nemen. Wij verzoeken u deze Email,
inclusief eventuele bijlagen, vervolgens direct te vernietigen en de inhoud
niet te gebruiken en/of onder derden te verspreiden.
The information contained in this Email is confidential. It is intended solely
for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. In case you
are not the intended recipient then please contact us. Next we request you to
destroy this Email (including any
attachments) and do not use and/or spread the contained information among third
parties.
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Anti-fraud resources:
