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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: KOSMOS ENERGY EXPLORATION COMPANY <test1@alumni.iitm.ac.in>
Reply-To: Capt.Raysylva@pacific-ocean.com
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2015 10:47:18 +0200
Subject: Updated
--
Dear.
My name is Captain Ray Sylva, a captain in charge and responsible for
the
shipment of unrefined crude oil for KOSMOS ENERGY EXPLORATION COMPANY
one
of the registered Europe/American and African oil & gas exploration
company. I need your collaboration to investing in your country some
funds
generated from the sale of unrefined crude oil and Gold. Can you assist
me
and two other captains in â€RECEIVING AND RE-PROFILING" some huge amount
of funds raised from sales of crude oil and Gold? Get back to me for
more
details. The funds are readily available for investment in good project
which will be suggested and handled by you.
On the other hand, my direct family has a large quantity of Gold dust
and
bars for sale to a direct buyer. On a mutual understanding, the family
will
agree with you as the sole middle man for the sale of the gold dust and
bars. For security reason reply via my private email address,
(Captain.Raysylva@gmx.com)
Thanks for your cooperation and understanding as I look forward to
hearing
from you,
Captain Ray Sylva
KOSMOS ENERGY EXPLORATION COMPANY
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Anti-fraud resources:
