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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:
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Robert Johnson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <robert.johnson98@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 4 May 2014 11:04:59 +0100
Subject: ATTENTION FOR MUTUAL INVESTMENT
My Name: Is Dr.Robert Johnson, I work with United Nation and with Influential men in Sudan and they have instructed me to seek for a capable hands that can receive a huge sum of funds for investment. Now that the both North and South Sudan are about to go to war, this will be the best time to ask for an assistance to assist in receiving this fund.This transaction is 100% risk free as all necessary documentation will be in place.
I wait to hear from you if you are interested.
Thanks.
Dr.Robert Johnson,
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Anti-fraud resources:
