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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:
- "you are advise to" (this email uses bad English)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Hon Maxwell Douglas" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <dhl.courierco@onet.pl>
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2017 15:26:10 -0700
Subject: Good News
Attention
This is to inform you that your funds worth of $8.5 Million United state Dollar has been converted into an ATM Master Card and have been registered with A Courier Company and here is the registration code of (Shipment Code 33xzs). You are advise to get in touch as soon as possible for the immediate delivery of your ATM card to your address.
Here are the information required from you.Your full Name: Country/City: Your Home or Office Address:Your Cell phone Number: Your Age/Occupation:
Best Regards
Hon Maxwell Douglas
Phone Number (+22964483384)
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Anti-fraud resources:
