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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:
- "clearance fee" (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. )
- "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. )
- "money gram" (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. )
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "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.
- 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 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. Eric Johnson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrericjohnson903@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 14:02:15 +0200
Subject: Pending Delivery (Final Notice) .. Read carefully and get back asap
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 a Bank Draft Check in your name and in the amount of
$4.5 million usd.
This email is to let you know that our delivery team has finally carried
out delivery to your residential address. The package left Lagos Nigeria
on January 3rd 2013 and since on the 5th of January 2013 it has been at
Memphis USA awaiting clearance.
To track your package, go to www.fedex.com/tracking and insert the
tracking number below to view delivery status.
www.fedex.com
Tracking Number: 800277347645
Yo u are advised to get back to me as soon as possible so instructions can
be given to you on how to clear the package.You are hereby advised to
provide us with the below details so we can immediately have it sent out
to our deliverymen
in Memphis.
Your Name(In Full):
Your Delivery Address:
Your Direct telephone Number:
Having tracked your parcel, it confirmed the status of delivery been
pending at Memphis TN awaiting clearance, all you need to do is to pay for
the clearance charges and re-direction fee demanded by the Custom
authorities and once it has been cleared, the parcel will be released and
re-directed to your address.
The clearance charges to be paid by you is $80 only.
You can send the clearance fee of $80 through Western Union or Money Gram
with the below details.
RECEIVER'S NAME: Samson Iheuwaneme
ADDRESS: Abuja Nigeria
TEXT QUESTION: who is he?
TEXT ANSWER: God
AMOUNT: $80
MTCN: .........
Send me the Western Union 10 Digit MTCN numbers as soon as you have made
the payment.
Call me now on +234-803-343-1065 for more details.
This is important and as such your immediate response will do you Good.
Management,
Mr. Eric Johnson
FedEx Online Management Team.
All rights reserved. 1995-2013 FedEX
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