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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:
- "yasudahou@tokyo.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "SHOTA YASUD." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <yasudahou@tokyo.com>
Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:32:19 +0900
Subject: information technology,
Hello Friend,
My name is Shota Yasuda, a banker and guru in information technology, holding the post as the director of auditing and accounts department for one of the leading banks in Japan. I am writing you to see if you could partner with me in a lucrative electronic transfer business that will fetch us millions. If you are interested more information will be disclosed to you. Kindly write me directly with your contacts on my private email: yasudahou@tokyo.com
Sincere regards,
Yasuda.
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Anti-fraud resources:
