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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:
- "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. )
- 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.
- 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.
- u.western5@yahoo.com (Yahoo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs Rose Alice <giulia06m@alice.it>
Reply-To: u.western5@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 10:59:38 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Your Western Union Payment
Good day!from Mrs Rose Alice
Your western union payment is now ready for you to start picking it up through
this custody and your total fund is 1.5 Million Usd but the amount you
will be receiving per day is 5,000 usd till your
total fund is been transferred to your name, Most important now you have to re-
confirm your current receiver's
information to him such as Receiver's Name..........Nationality...........
Address..........Age.............Phone Number...........Occupation........,
And please be informed that the Director's name is Dr Mike Benson And you have
to keep this in mind that your payment file has been expired that you will re-
new your payment file in other for you to start picking your payment from any
western office near you,for more question please Call or Email him at
(u.western5@yahoo.com)or +229 687 12933 or 9876-6894 make sure you did not make
any mistake to avoid changing your transfer file.
Thanks
Mrs Rose Alice
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Anti-fraud resources:
