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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)
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- 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.
- garrysmiths66@yahoo.co.jp (Yahoo, Japan; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Garry Smiths" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <garrysmiths66@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2012 21:56:55 -0700
Subject: Estate investment
Dear Friend,
I have just gotten your email and i decide to write
you about my proposal! !How best can you handle
an investment for me in your country?am public figure in my
country you can understand what i mean but presently in united
state of America(USA)for holiday searching for kind of investment
that i can invest sum of(10 million dollar) on to start with, Am
interested in investing in Real Estates or tourism business, if
you have the interest or you have ideal of any other
lucrative venture we can be partner, kindly write me back
immediately.for proceeding on how the fund can be move to your
country for investment and the mode of percentage.
For easy transfer of the funds.contact me on my private email.(garrysmiths66@yahoo.co.jp)
Please treat this information as confidential because of the
crisis that is going on in my country.
Thanks
Best Regards,
Garry smiths
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Anti-fraud resources:
