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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:
- "western union" (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.
- Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs.Rebecca Alade" <westernunionserviceoffice9@gmail.com>
Reply-To: westernunionheadoffice53@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2022 04:50:14 -0700
Subject: Goodnews
Dear Beneficiary
We write to inform you that we have already sent you $5000 USD dollars
through Western Union as we have been given the mandate to transfer
your full compensation payment of $10.5,000.00 USD via Western Union
by the United Nations, So we decided to email you the MTCN and
sender's name so you can pick up this $5000 USD to enable us send
another $5000 USD by tomorrow as you know we will be sending you only
$5000 USD per day.
Please pick up this information and run to any Western Union Office in
your country to pick up the $5000 USD and email us back to send you
another payment tomorrow.
email us once you picked up this $5000 USD today.Here is the western
union information,
Sender’s First Name____STEPHEN
Senders Second Name____KRUEGER
Senders Country Benin Republic
Text question___When
Answer__45Minutes
Amount$ 5000
MTCN; (342-398-6721)
TEL{+229-65688759}
Best Regards
Mrs.Rebecca Alade
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