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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- 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.
- mensah.steven11@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Steven Mensah <martinjoe00@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mensah.steven11@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 2014 15:47:26 -0800
Subject: Dearest Beloved One,Urgent Mail From Mr.Steven Mensah.
Dear One,
How are you and your family, hope all is well ? As the world is
defined as a global village, I don’t want you to get this letter as a
surprise but as an opportunity that will put smile on your face. With
due respect I propose this business to you, to make it brief I want to
transfer $3.5 Million US Dollars into your bank account.
The fund belong to our deceased customer who died with his entire
family in 2008 China Earthquake leaving nobody for the claim and as
such I decided to contact you as a partner to enable us claim the
fund. 50% of this fund will be for you and 50% for me.
Hit reply on this e-mail to contact me only if you’re interested in
this business and for more details. I am assuring you that the
transaction is 100% Risk Free. Above all a line of reply is highly
appreciated in this regard as soon as possible if you are
interested.Please Reply To This E-Mail: mensah.steven11@yahoo.com
Thank you
Sincerely,
Mr.Steven Mensah.
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Anti-fraud resources:
