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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "western union" (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. )
- "mtcn" (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. )
- "federal republic of benin" (Benin, Cameroon, etc. are no Federal Republics, unlike Nigeria where this type of scam was invented)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
- 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.
- 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.
- ezenwsmith@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "DR. SMITH EZENWA" <chinedujohn806@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: "DR. SMITH EZENWA" <ezenwsmith@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2015 00:19:06 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: DEAR FRIEND:
DEAR FRIEND:
We want to inform you that your $5000 has been released today through
western union payment and we want you to Contact Person;REV. DR. SMITH EZENWA. immediately with this email address(ezenwsmith@hotmail.com)
Here is the information the western union payment office needed from you.
Your full name__________________
Your country_________________________
Your phone numbers______________________
Your Age___________________________________
Your occupation_______________________________
Ask him to give you the question and answer and (MTCN NUMBER) for you
to pick up the $5,000 he sent to you, he will be sending it $5,000 per
each transaction until he finish sending the whole amount to
you which is
$8.5M USD, One Million Five Hundred Thousands US Dollars.
You will pay small amount for the PIN CODE NUMBER And Ownership certificate
of the fund before you can pick up the money but we don't know the exactly
amount. We wish You Good luck
CONTACT: REV. DR. SMITH EZENWA.
FOREIGN OPERATION MANAGER
E-MAIL: (ezenwsmith@hotmail.com)
DIRECT TELE: +229-99090711
Yours in service.
Thanks.
Mrs.YOYCE MADUOME
Finance Minister
Federal Republic of Benin
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Anti-fraud resources:
