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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. )
- "money gram" (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. )
- "mtcn" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- 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.
- michlaw271@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr. Micheal Lawrence" <"Www."@cyber.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: "Dr. Micheal Lawrence" <michlaw271@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2017 13:59:37 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Dear Customer
Dear Customer
The International Monetary Fund Annual Compensation from USA.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is compensating some scam victims and your email address was found in the scam victims list. This Money Gram®office has been mandated by the IMF to transfer your compensation to you via Money Gram®Money Transfer.
However, we have concluded to affect your own payment through Money Gram®Money Transfer, $7,000.00 pay day until the total sum of $5.5 Million United States is completely transferred to you the receiver. We cannot be able to send the payment with your email address alone, we are hereby needed your information to where we will be sending the funds.
Here is the information to pick up your first payment of $7,000 through Money Gram store close to you and once againg i want you to go now and pick it up over there today with the Transfer information and also your I.D Card okay
Money Reference Number (REF): 691 449 79
Sender's First Name: Ezennia
Sender's Last Name: Ike
MTCN:# 691 339 72 (Track the MTCN by visiting::::::::: https://secure.moneygram.com/track)
You Can Text or Call once
you fill below Information
(Receivers name)............
(Country).......................
(Address)................................
(Phone Number).....................
(Your Age)..................................
(ID copy)............. ..................
(Your Email Address)...................
NOTE: That your payment files will be returned to the IMF within 72hours if we
did not hear from you because this was the instruction given to us by the IMF
office here in USA. We will start the transfer as soon as we received
your information. You are hereby warned not to communicate or duplicate this
message for any reason what so ever because the US FBI is already on trace of
the criminals from Africa.
NOTICE: To text or call this office for any question.
Name: Dr. Micheal Lawrence
Telephone Number: +229-95-80-65-25
Email: michlaw271@gmail.com
Sincerely,
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Anti-fraud resources:
