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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Webmail Account Service Team Management" <web@mail.com>
Reply-To: webmailupdate4@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2016 08:26:07 +0100
Subject: Dear our valued customers
Dear our valued customers,
This message is from webmail hosting messaging center to all our
account owners. We are currently upgrading our data base and e-mail center
for this year 2016. We are deleting all unused account to create more
space for new one and to prevent spam mails. To prevent your account from
closing you will have to update it below so that we will know that it's a
present used account.
Warning!!! E-mail owner that refuses to update his or her Email,within
48hrs of receiving this warning will lose his or her E-mail permanently.
You are required to send us the below information via email below.
CONFIRM YOUR E-MAIL IDENTITY BELOW:
First Name: ____________________________
Last Name: _____________________________
E-mail Username: ________________________
E-mail Password: _______________________
We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences caused.
Warning!!!
In failure to verify your account within 48hrs on receiving this
notification, your account will automatically be deactivated.
Thank you for using webmail Account.
Warning Code: QATO8B52AXV
Kind Regards,
Webmail Account Service Team Management.
Thanks for your co-operation.
Copyright @2016 WEBMAIL OFFICE All rights reserved.
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Anti-fraud resources:
