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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:
- "security keeping fee" (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. )
- "you are advise to" (this email uses bad English)
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "process@zbavitu.net" (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.
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "United Parcel Service LTD" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <un_dp@dgoh.org>
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 18:10:33 +0100
Subject: Re:
United Parcel Service LTD UPS
Customer Service Department
Gariki Abuja-Nigeria Branch
E-mail: process@zbavitu.net
Tel: +2348072239089
INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY DEPARTMENT
Compliment of the day to you dear customer i must say that i am very
surprise when i went through your file that you have still not receive
your parcel.
I am Jude Abel the newly appointed Dispatch Officer for the UPS Courier
Service, Gariki Branch. I wish to inform you that a shipment
order will be placed on your parcel with Registration #: 0947R-3UVD-XQF
the parcel was tendered to us by Officials of the United Nations for
onward delivery to you.
We were able to discover this as a result of our yearly procedure of
checking files of our customers who have not collected their parcel
for delivery. In the checking process we then discover that your file was
still with us.
Your parcel which was placed on hold by the custom officers has been
cleared Tariff Act of 1930 and Title 19 of the Code of Federal
Regulations CFRow. Under the Department of Homeland Security the parcel
with Registration #: 0947R-3UVD-XQF has been cleared and ready
to be dispatch to you.
In regards to your mail yes your name is in the file of those who has not
claim their parcel. As the newly appointed Dispatch Officer it is
my duty to ensure that your parcel get to you without any delay just
because of the bad name given to us by the past Director and complains
from some of our customer claims that co-ordinators has been extorting
money from customer and never send their parcel to them , As the new
Dispatch Officer a meeting was held on the 14th of November 2014 to make sure
that the files of all customer are being looked into and also check out
for customers that have paid and never received their parcel that was when
we actually found out that you have not redeemed.
To that effect we decided to help customers with this kind of issues who
has not receive their parcel, Please to enable us dispatch this
parcel to the rightful owner you are advise to reconfirm your current
shipping details so that we can update your profile and your
parcel delivery to you without any delay.
Note: You are only required to pay $60 for Security Keeping Fee of your
parcel since you have paid for your shipment. Payment of this
Security Keeping should be made directly to my officer details :
Receiver Name : Paul Eweka
Location: Nigeria
Text Question: Who is Good
Answer: God
On the confirmation of your payment your package will be set for delivery
which you will receive within 36hours.
Your package contain the following information
I. AN ATM CARD Issued by the GUARANTEE TRUST BANK
II. ORIGINAL COPY OF INSURANCE BOND
III. UNITED NATIONS VTI INVITATION LETTER
IV. CERTIFICATE OF CLEAR SOURCE OF FUNDS ORIGIN Issued by Internal Revenue Board
PACKAGE WEIGHT: 41.52g
PACKAGE COLOUR: Brown
REG NUMBER: CVL/TW/US/254.
We sincerely hope the above information is helpful to you. Should you have
any further queries do not hesitate to write us.
I hope that you use the fund judiciously by serving humanity. Thanks for
using our firm as i expect a copy of the receipt of mail soon.
Regards,
Jude Abel,
UPS DELIVERY
OFFICER.
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Anti-fraud resources:
