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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:
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr Frank Uba" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <unitedbnkforafrica@manager.in.th>
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2012 13:14:26 +0800
Subject: Dear Fund Owner
ATM Payment Center
United Bank for Africa (UBA)
Lagos, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
IMMEDIATE ATM CARD PAYMENT NOTIFICATION
Telephone: +234-80621-30996.
Dear Fund Owner,
This is to officially notify you that your fund has been duly approved and upgrade for immediate payment to you via ATM card. However, it is our pleasure to inform you that your ATM Visa Card has been approved and upgraded in your favor.
The ATM Visa Card is Valued at $5.5 Million Usd you are advised to reconfirm the below listed information's to enable us facilitate an immediate release of your ATM Visa Card to you.
1 Your full names.
2 Your present contact address.
3 Your telephone & Fax numbers.
4 Your Occupations/age/sex.
5 Your Private Email Address.
6 Marital Status.
You are advice to call me for more direction and instruction on how to receive your ATM Visa Card.
Thank you.
Regards,
Mr. Frank Uba
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Anti-fraud resources:
