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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "the consignment" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "consignment " (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "million american dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "is highly confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: JOLENE IGOBETAH <jolene_i200@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2012 01:54:56 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Represent me in your country
Hello,
I am searching for some one who will represent me outside my country and
receive the consignment that I want to send out of this country libya,
the consignement is a box containing bank notes of dollar bills worth
over 15 million american dollars, if I can entrust this box into your
care pls let me know so that I can send it across to you.
After receiving it I am going to come over to your country and settle
and I am going to offer you 10% of the total sum as soon as I come over
there, This is very urgent and I want you to keep is highly confidential
whether you will help or not.
If you want to represent me send to me the following infos:-
Your full name:-
Nationality:-
Occupation:-
Date of Birth:-
Sex:-
Country of residence:-
Residential address:-
Phone number:-
Fax number:-
Mrs. Jolene Benson
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Anti-fraud resources: