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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)
- "eric_ben1@w.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "eric_ben1@w.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a "New Partner from Paraguay" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.John Williams" <williamsmr.john@ymail.com>
Reply-To: eric_ben1@w.cn
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:43:55 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: CONTACT MY SECRETARY FOR YOUR COMPENSATION!
Dear friend,
I am very happy to inform you about my success in getting that fund now; I want you to contact my secretary on the information below. NAME; Mr. Eric Ben. EMAIL (eric_ben1@w.cn ) Ask him to send you the total sum of $850,000.00.USD Eight hundred and fifty thousand US dollars in a bank draft, which I kept for your compensation. Contact him on this email (eric_ben1@w.cn ) you can even call him with this phone number, 229 97962372,
And furnish him with the below information.
1. FULL NAMES;............................
2 ADDRESS:.................................
3. SEX:.........................................
4. AGE;.........................................
5. MARITAL STATUS:.................
6.OCCUPATION:.........................
7. E-MAIL ADDRESS:................
8. TELEPHONE NUMBER:........
9. FAX:NUMBER......................
10. BREIF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/INDIVIDUAL:
11.CITY:.......................................
12. STATE:...............................
13.COUNTRY:............................
Still remain your bosom friend.
Remain Bless
Regards
Mr. John Williams
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Anti-fraud resources:
