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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:
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "chris.eddyi@collector.org" (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: "Mrs. Sarah Edo" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <office.notice@presidency.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 03:35:21 -0700
Subject: Mrs. Sarah Edo
Good Day Beneficiary
I want to use this Medium to inform you that your INHERITANCE Part Payment of USD2.3M Two Million Three Hundred Thousand Dollars from CBN BANK OF NIGERIA have been RELEASED and APPROVED for onward transfer to you via an ATM CARD which you will use and withdraw all the USD2.3M in any ATM SERVICE MACHINE in any part of the world.the new presidency office have mandated Mr. Chris Eddy of Atm Card collector Office to send you the ATM CARD and PIN NUMBER.You are advice to stop any further communication with anybody and contact the officer in-charge with the below information:
Atm card collector Office.
Contact Person: Mr. Chris Eddy.
Email: chris.eddyi@collector.org
Tell Mr. Chris Eddy, that you received a message from the office of the Presidency, instructing him to send you the ATM CARD and PIN NUMBER which you will use and withdraw your overdue fund in any ATM SERVICE MACHINE in any part of the world, also reconfirm back to him your direct phone number and contact address where you want him to send the ATM CARD and PIN NUMBER to you.
We are very sorry for the plight you have gone through in the past years. Thanks for adhering to this instruction and once again accept our congratulations.
Best Regards.
Mrs. Sarah Edo
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Anti-fraud resources:
