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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "intregistrationdesk@zoho.com" (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: "Dr. Kate Morgan" <kate.md@bcic.gov.bd>
Reply-To: katemorgant90@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2017 15:16:22 +0000
Subject: Invitation for U S conference from June 26th - 30th June 2017
Dear Sir/Madam,
It is a great honor for me to invite you and colleagues to attend the 2017, Symposium meeting on Child & Women's Protection, Rapist & forced marriage, Political Crisis & Human Violence, Economic growth & Global Security. The 2017 Symposium Meeting will be taking place from June 26th - 30th June 2017 in Dallas Texas United States.
The symposium meeting will contain various talks and mini workshops related to the issues of Challenges.The organizing committee sponsors are responsible for visa processing to those who requires visa to the United States and provide free round-trip air tickets from your country to the United States and back to your country. Hotel Accommodation will be your responsible during your stay in United States. Interested participants are to contact the organization office directly by e-mail: intregistrationdesk@zoho.com
We look forward to your honorable presence.
Thanks!
Dr. Kate Morgan
Assistant Director - Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy.
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Anti-fraud resources:
