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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)
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "with your full names" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Admin Admin <arrkhan@gmail.com>
Reply-To: alexharry2016@hotmail.com
Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2016 09:53:35 +0100
Subject: Re: Matter Of Urgency
Hello Dear Sir/Madam.
Sorry to have contacted you via this medium but i really do have a business
transaction worth Fifty Million United States Dollars which i will like you
to recieve as the Next of Kin to my late client which i really will like to
discuss with you if you are interested to know further details kindly get
back to me with your Full Names and Phone Number for confidential Reasons.
Note that this is a risk free transaction which requires just your
honesty,trust and willingness to support the success of this transaction
within few days we will be smilling and i am willing to share this
profitable transaction with you at the ratio of 50/50 as long as i can
trust you. 50% for you and 50% for me respectivily.
Waiting your anticipated response.
Regards
Mr. Alex Harry
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Anti-fraud resources:
