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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:
- "a security company " (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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Binyamin Weinreich" <binyamin@theweinreichs.com>
Reply-To: dispatcher_office@aim.com
Date: Sat, 08 Feb 2014 10:21:38 -0500
Subject: Please Revert Back
Good day,
It is my pleasure to contact you for a business venture which I intend to
establish in your country.Though I have not met with you before but I
believe one has to risk confiding in succeed sometimes in life. I'm
Eugenia Mills, 20 years old from Ghana. daughter of Mrs Monica Mills the
Secretary Wife and Personal Assistant to former Ghana president. I have
Sixty million five hundred thousand dollars which was made by my mother
before she was assassinated by unknown persons in Oct 2006. My mother left
this money in a security company here in my country. I seek your
permission to transfer this fund into your country so that i could come to
your country for investment and to further my studies. I want you to help
me retrieve these fund from the security company and transfer it into your
personal account in your country for investment purposes on these areas
like Telecommunication, The transport industry, Five star hotel, Real
Estate
If you can be of an assistance to me i will be pleased to offer to you 10%
Of the total fund.
I await your soonest response
Respectfully yours,
Eugenia Mills.
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Anti-fraud resources:
