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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)
- 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.
- obip9658@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Warren E. Buffett" <headofficefbi184@gmail.com>
Reply-To: obip9658@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2023 15:45:48 -0700
Subject: HELLO
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Dear Friend
How are you and your family? I'm happy to inform you about my success
in putting my donation in an ATM card to be delivered to you. Forward
your delivery information to my secretary Pamela Bill through her
e-mail id (obip9658@gmail.com) and ask her to send the ATM card
containing the total of ($1,500.000.00 US DOLLARS ) to your preferred
address. For security reasons, I lodged this amount into an ATM MASTER
CARD because i do not want the money to be tampered with.
So feel free and get in touch with my secretary MISS PAMELA BILL
E-mail : (obip9658@gmail.com)
She will send the ATM MASTER CARD to you, also reconfirm the below
details to her.
1. Full name
2. Mobile number
3. Address
4. Country
5. Valid ID card
6. Occupation, and Sex
Do get in touch with me once you receive it.
NB: You are only required to pay for the delivery fee.
Regards,
Mr. Warren E. Buffett
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Anti-fraud resources:
