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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a "New Partner from Paraguay" scam.
- 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.
- adeosunm749@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Joe Williams" <infoagent76@gmail.com>
Reply-To: adeosunm749@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2022 02:29:53 -0800
Subject: From Mr. Joe Williams
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Dear friend
I didn't forget your past effort by trying to help me, now I want to
tell you that I have succeeded in getting those funds transferred
under the cooperation of a new partner from Thailand. Contact my
secretary in Cotonou Republic of Benin because I have left the whole
instruction to him on your behalf and instruct him where to send the
1.750.000.00 without any further delay for your compensation.
His name is Mr. David Adeosun
Email adeosunm749@yahoo.com
NB:NOTE :BELLOW IS THE REQUIRED INFORMATIONS YOU WILL SEND TO MY
SECRETARY :-
(1) YOUR FULL NAMES
(2) YOUR HOUSE ADDRESS
(3) YOUR DIRECT CELPHONE NUMBER AND HOUSE PHONE WITH FAX IF ANY .
In this moment, I'm very busy here in Thailand because of the
investment projects, which the new partner and I are having at hand.
So, feel free to get in touch with Mr. David Adeosun to send the Bank
Draft to you without any delay.
Regards
Mr. Joe Williams.
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Anti-fraud resources: