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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)
- "hillaryodinaka@ymail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a "New Partner from Paraguay" scam.
- 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 PAUL PHILIPS" <office_flie@rocketmail.com>
Reply-To: hillaryodinaka@ymail.com
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2012 01:39:02 +0600 (BDT)
Subject: Contact My Personal Assistant
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Dear Friend,
I did not forgot your past effort by trying to help me, now I want to tell
you that I have succeeded in getting those funds transferred under the
co-operation of a new partner from Paraguay.Contact my secretary because I
have left the whole instruction to him on your behalf and instruct him
where to send the check worth of $3.5m with out any further delay for your
compensation.
His name is Hillary Odinaka
Email: hillaryodinaka@ymail.com
Phone: +2348029879968.
NB:NOTE :BELLOW IS THE REQUIRED INFORMATION YOU WILL SEND TO MY SECRETARY:-
(1) YOUR FULL NAME.................................
(2) YOUR HOUSE ADDRESS.................................
(3) YOUR DIRECT CELPHONE NUMBER AND HOUSE PHONE WITH FAX IF ANY.
(4) YOUR OCCUPATION.........................................
(5)YOUR PHONE NUMBER.........................................
REGARDS,
MR PAUL PHILIPS
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Anti-fraud resources:
