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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.
- 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.
- 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.
- bolo802@yahoo.co.uk (Yahoo, United Kingdom; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: James Max <pobina.fashion@alice.it>
Reply-To: bolo802@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 04:23:10 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: AttentionAttention
Your compensation package of award winning 4.7milliom dollars was approved with
FedEx Corporation that have been raised by our delivery officer Mr. Alex Bolo,
so you are to contact Mr. Alex Bolo, with the details of your service to enable
to take advantage of delivery to you today. Here is his email contact
(bolo802@yahoo.co.uk) +229-6804-9569/00229-6804-9569 Your Full name_____
Your Country Name___
Your Name______ State
Your Home Town & Address________
your Occupation______
Your Cell Phone and office number______
A copy of your Picture____
Your Age / Sex______
Your nearest International Air Port ------------
God Bless
James Max
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Anti-fraud resources:
