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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "western union" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "mtcn" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "cotonou" (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.
- Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- info.westernuniongoldcard01@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Western Union Pay-out Gold card <info.westernuniongoldcard01@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2012 06:37:13 -0700
Subject: GOLD CARD Delivery UPDATE___$38 Needed
Attention Please.
Thank you for accepting my email we receive the email and the
informations you sent, Your fund is $100.000.00 United States
Dollars. and your Western union Gold card will be at your doors step
within the next 1hours as soon as we receive the requested fee by
today. Please note that we have meetting again today again about this
issue and about your fund that is heldup by our western union Gold
card office, Please i am giving you a word of advice for the last time
that as soon as you can send this fee of $38 today, your gold card
will be at your destination address by fiist thing this morning as
soon as you can comply today. Please try to help out with this you
know that i have try all my best and you too. Please try all you can
to see that you do some thing now so that we can finalize every
things. I promise you that this will be the last payment to finalize
every things and your Gold card will be sent to you today without any
further delay non story again. Please try to understand me clear. You
are advice to send the fee with the below details by Western union
only: Payment should be made via Western union only with my name
below.
1. RECEIVER NAME... Ogechukwu Omokwe
2. COUNTRY... BENIN REPUBLIC.
3. CITY... COTONOU .Add : 11 Missebo cotonou 2 Cotonou -Benin.
5. TEXT QUESTION... what colour TEXT ANSWER... Yellow
7.Amount : $38
Forward the MTCN NUMBER: xxx xxx xxx x.
Please email us back at Email: info.westernuniongoldcard01@gmail.com
OR You call me for more explaination. I will make sure i do my best
to see that you receive your card by today without any further delay
again. Please note that as soon as you send this money today, this
will be the final and nothing more again. I promise that i will keep
my word this time and you will receive your Western union Gold card by
this morning. Please reconfirm me your full details and your home
address without any further delay again. Please Via the attachement of
your Gold card and get back to me. Please call me now so that we can
finishup every things by today without any further delay again.
Waiting to hear from you soon.
Best regards,
Ganesh Amoorthy
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