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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:
- "trunk box" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "trunk boxes" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Nicholas Hamilton" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <nickolashamilton@ymail.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2016 20:22:55 -0700
Subject: Message From US ARMY Medical Team
Greetings,
I know you will be surprised to read my email. Apart from being surprise you may be skeptical to reply me because based on what is happening on the internet world, one has to be very careful because a lot of scammers are out there to scam innocent citizens and this has made it very difficult for people to believe anything that comes through the internet. My name is Capt. Nicholas Hamilton. I am a member of the US ARMY Medical Team deployed to Iraq because of the current ISIS problems. I discovered 2 trunk boxes containing American dollar. Am looking for a trust worthy individual who will assist me to receive the funds in his country before l will come over and join the person. To prove my sincerity, you are not sending me any money because most of these scams are all about sending money.
For reference click the link below
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_military_intervention_against_ISIS
www.cnn.com/2014/08/08/world/iraq-options
www.cnn.com/2014/08/20/world/meast/iraq-crisis/
Information below is neccesary,
1. Full Name...
2. Address....
3. Occupation...
4. Age..........
5. Your Telephone Number.
As soon as i received these information i will send more details.
Best Regards
Capt. Nicholas Hamilton
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Anti-fraud resources: