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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "charity_walker@qq.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ms. Charity Walker" <sophiamadison387@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Charity_Walker@qq.com
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 19:28:45 -0500
Subject: (WHRO) INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE INVITATION 2014>>
Dear Sir/Madam,
On behalf of the Washington Human Right Organization (WHRO) we are
delighted to invite you to the United State and Senegal for the Joint
International Convention on Violence against Children, Child Labor,
Sex Trafficking/Sexual Exploitation of Children and Human Trafficking
holding from 16th to 19th April 2014 in the United States and from
20th to 25th April in Senegal.
This Conference will bring together practitioners, researchers and
educators from around the world who are engaged in Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms.
For registration information you are to contact the conference Registrar
Please share the information with your colleagues.
Best regard,
Ms. Charity Walker.
Email: Charity_Walker@qq.com
Assistant Field Operations Manager
WHRO 2014
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Anti-fraud resources:
