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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:
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- office.dhl-express@post.cz (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "JOHN EDWARD" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <office.dhl-express@post.cz>
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2019 06:57:18 -0800
Subject: ATTENTION PLEASE
Be informed that all pending deliveries in this office will be
cancelled
and diverted to a Government account next week, based on an order from
the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F). Your total funds were
included
in
this order since you are unable to pay the delivery fees. We hereby
urge
you to proceed to claim your funds or stand a chance of losing them
completely and also remember to reconfirm your full address to avoid
any wrong delivery,Full Name____________________
Home Address_________________
Telephone#___________________
Your urgent reply is appreciated. Thanks For Your Co-operation. We Are
Here To
Serve You Better. Yours In Service
Email: (office.dhl-express@post.cz)
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Anti-fraud resources:
