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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: UNITED BANK AFRICA PLC <r.sapori@alice.it>
Reply-To: bia.cash@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 17:19:40 +0100 (CET)
Subject: ****SPAM**** Your Online Payment Is Now Ready
Dear Sir/Madam,
Thanks
for the response to our message,you can view your payment online by
clicking the link below and Log in your email account.
Click here to view your payment online
Just
click on the above link Blue Color and Log in accurately to view your
payment online.note with out you logging in your email and password
correctly, your fund can not be credited because it is an online payment
which was configured with your email account to avoid hackers being
hacking your fund or having access to your fund
Note that your phone number is highly needed for more direction on how you will make the transfer
Phone Number ====
Thanks
Mr. Goodlck Miracle
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Anti-fraud resources:
