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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:
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Peter Williams" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <peterwilliams311@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:36:14 -0700
Subject: Supply Contract
Dear Friend,
It's a pleasure to seek your partnership to this supply contract. I'm Peter Williams,Secretary to the Purchase Dept, SLGX Pharmaceuticals UK. The company through our dept purchases herbal seeds & roots used as active ingredient in production of drugs curing viral diseases like HIV and Cancer. The product is lifted from indian farmers at the rate of $600 per packet and sold to our company at $2200 per packet by suppliers.I confidentially got the contact of the farmers in India & do not want to disclose this to my company because I have interest in the trade.
I need a trustworthy individual/company who can invest financially in this trade.Your responsibility is to purchase the product from the Indian farmers and as well standing as cultivator of the product,then sell to my company at the rate of $2000 per packet. My commission will be 10% of profit after deduction of expenses. The minimum supply is 200 pkts,If interested send your concise response
Peter Williams
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Anti-fraud resources: