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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)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Nkuku Nnekwu
Reply-To: <w3n3agent@qq.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2016 11:04:21 -0700
Subject: Atm Card Delivery
Dear Beneficiary,
Your full Payment of $ 2.5 M from United Bank Benin has been Released and Approved for onward transfer to you Via an ATM, through the services of National UPS Company. We were able to accomplish this through the help of IMF director John Andy and every necessary arrangement has been made successfully with the National UPS Agent Mr Wilson Nwave.
You should contact the agent to send you the card and the Pin number which you will use to activate of your card is 0516. You should reconfirm this information to the agent;
Your Full Name*
Your Telephone*
Your Address*
Your City*
Through his address:
Wilson Nwave
Avenue Jean Paul I BP 325- Cotonou
Email: w3n3agent@qq.com
Tel + 229-6129-7557.
Best Regards.
Mrs. Nkuku Nnekwu.
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Anti-fraud resources:
