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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "moneygram" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- MoneyGram money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. Along with Western Union it is a preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- boa.moneygram.office1978@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
- place waiyaki way nairobi, kenya email: boa.moneygram.office1978@gmail.com boamoneygram@yahoo.com don't hesitate to fill these form (Gmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Fikret Tumen" <rsettnik1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: boamoneygram@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 02 Jun 2017 20:17:10 +0400
Subject: Payment Update!
ATTN:
Winning Notification!
Your Winning Prize of USD$ 1.500.000.00 has been granted, Contact MoneyGram Payout System Manager (KENYA) immediately on the contact information below to claim your Prize:.
Mr Azima M. Azizi
Address: Lion Place Waiyaki Way Nairobi, Kenya
Email: boa.moneygram.office1978@gmail.com
boamoneygram@yahoo.com
Don't hesitate to fill these form when contacting them:
Full name:
Address:
Country:
State:
Zipcode:
Telephone#:
Thanks,
Yours in service.
Abubakar Karim
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Anti-fraud resources: