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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "i need your help" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <dr.fatimasaleha@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 4 May 2014 12:28:03 +0530
Subject: Urgent Reply Needed
DEAR SIR/MADAM
My name is DR. FATIMA SALEH HALIMA,a medical doctor working with NATO currently in Syria.
i got your esteemed contact during my comprehensive research for a reliable and trustworthy individual in your country,I will need your help in this situation I find myself.I am really afraid and i don't know whom to confide in.I have some money I made in the president of Syrian compound Bashar al-Assads during our search in rescue team NATO.I have kept it as secret for a little while and I need someone I can trust to work and transfer this money out of Syria as a medical documents.Please I will need your help on this for I can forfeit 25 percent of this money to make sure is safely used for me until I will be living the army next year.I will need to work with you in getting this money out of SYRIA.Please,get back to me and I will make the arrangement on how to get this done because i have no one to confide in,I joined the army as an orphan and i don't have someone to confide in as i believe you will be of helpful to me.I will be reviling the said amount immediately you give me your
word of confidence to go
Regards,
DR. FATIMA SALEH HALIMA.
CAN YOU HELP ME
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Anti-fraud resources: