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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 beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Tony Jude." <jepol398@gmail.com>
Reply-To: judemrtony@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2016 14:48:40 +0100
Subject: Dear Beneficiary,
Dear Beneficiary,
This is to officially notify you that your fund has been duly approved
and gazetted for immediate payment to you via ATM Master card.
However, it is our pleasure to inform you that your ATM Card has been
approved and upgraded in your favor. The ATM Master card is Valued at
$3.8m You are advised to respond immediately with the under listed
information's for clarity and further direction on how to receive your
ATM Master card and for avoidance of error:
FULL NAMES:
ADDRESS:
MOBILE TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS:
COMPANY NAME (IF ANY):
OCCUPATION:
AGE:
DATE OF BIRTH:
MARITAL STATUS:
Thank you.
Regards,
Mr.Tony Jude.
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Anti-fraud resources:
