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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: "George Douglas" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <georgeduglas09@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2020 12:55:37 +0100
Subject: Business Transaction
Attention:
I write to you based on a request by an investor who needs to invest his funds in your country. My name is Mr.George Douglas, an investment manager; we represent the interests of very wealthy Investors mainly from East and North Africa. Due to the sensitivity of their position they hold in their Organization and the unstable investment environment of their countries, they prefer to channel/move the majority of their funds into more stable economies and developing nations where they can get good yield for their money and its safety.
This reserved group of individuals, whom our firm is personally holding their assets instructed and approached us with a mandate to seek for a firm or an individual such as yourself who has the experience and capacity to receive their assets and re-invest it into a good and lucrative investment you will recommend.
Kindly let us know your acceptance to this offer. Also, you should furnish us with a full comprehensive draft of your terms and conditions. We also need to know about the area or idea of investment plans you are to propose. Once we are convinced on your capacity to handle these assets we will then provide you with all necessary information including the unmentioned amount involved.
Sincerely yours,
George Douglas
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Anti-fraud resources: