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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:
- "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. )
- "here in united kingdom" (this email uses bad English)
- 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 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.
- westernuniononline371@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Gorge Jodan" <mj5936822@gmail.com>
Reply-To: westernuniononline371@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2022 21:24:22 +0100
Subject: Attention dear customer
Attention dear customer
The International Monetary Fund Annual ÂCompensation from ECO-WAS. The
International
Monetary Fund (IMF) office contacted me and said that you are among
one of the individuals and organizations who are yet to receive their
overdue payment from overseas which includes those of
Lottery/Gambling, Contract and Inheritance that the transaction the
bank contacted you previously was legal.Recently the fund has been
legally approved to be paid through WESTERN Union online transfer.and
they deposited the sum of $4.2 Million United States is completely
transferred to you the receiver.And your information is among the list
which they submitted in our office today.
This WESTERN UNION®office has been mandated by the IMF to transfer
your compensation
to you via WESTERN Union®Money Transfer .However, we have concluded to
affect your own payment through western union®Money Transfer, $5000.00
pay day until the total sum of $4.2 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 $5000 through Western
Union store close to you.
You are to pay for the activation of the MTCN reference number so we
can activate it with your name immediately.
Money Reference Number (REF): 691 339..
Sender's First Name:LEO
Sender's Last Name: MOON
MTCN:# 691 339 ..
You Can Text or Call once you fill below Information;
(Receivers name)............Â
(Country)..................... ..Â
(Address)..................... ........Â...
(Phone Number).....................Â
(Your Age).......................... ..Â......
(ID copy)............. ................Â..
(Your Email Address)...................Â
Here is Western Union Director Information
Contact person ;Mr.W. Alexander Holmes
His Phnoe No; text or call Mobile:+1 2027965440
Email address ; westernuniononline371@gmail.com
NOTE: That your payment files will be returned to the IMF within 48
hours if we did not hear from you because this was Âthe instruction
given to us by the IMF office here in United Kingdom .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.
Sincerely,
Mr.Gorge Jodan
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