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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs Pauline Farrar <imfintrmoneytryoffic@gmail.com>
Reply-To: paytdept@accountant.com
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:40:26 +0100
Subject: From Mrs Pauline Farrar
Dear Customer,
This email is coming to you as a reminder concerning your pending package
that has been with us for a long time. As you already know that this
package is containing an AUTOMATIC TELLER MACHINE CARD (ATM CARD) in your
name and in the amount of $15.5 million USD.
United Parcel Service (UPS) wish to let you know that our delivery team has
finally carried out delivery of your package though having problems with
your availability on pickup which we assume that the address is not
correct. The package was shipped from Nigeria and since on the 01/31/2013
it has been on transit awaiting clearance of location.
To track your package, go to www.ups.com and insert the tracking number
below to view delivery status.
WWW.UPS.COM TRACKING NUMBER: 1Z9575R2P297341747
On the tracking page you will see that this package has been in our route
for six months which led to our contacting you for proper identification of
your address. This is because you have refused to give us your cooperation.
You are hereby advice to provide us with the below details so we can
immediately have it sent out to our delivery Personnel to complete your
delivery to the current address you may provide now.
YOUR FULL NAMES :
YOUR FULL PRESENT DELIVERY ADDRESS:
YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER(S):
YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT OR DRIVERS LICENSE
Upon receiving your correct details, we will immediately notify our
regional depot and the Airport Authorities so that the package will be
redirected to your correct address immediately.
This is important and as such your immediate response will do you good.
Management,
Mrs. Pauline Farrar.
(c)UPS Online Management Team.
All rights reserved.
(c) 1995-2012
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Anti-fraud resources:
