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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: fatinma suleman <suleman.fatinma@gmail.com>
Reply-To: fatinma.suleman@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:38:12 +0100
Subject: From Ms Fatinma
Hello Dear.
Forgive me if my letter is not acceptable to you but i decided to write
you because I have no other alternative.Since after the death of my father
and my mother, I have been in a very big difficulty of how to claim and
invest the money which my father left in the bank for me before his death.
I am afraid because the bank demanded for my trustee and guardian from me
before they can release the money to me because that was my father's
agreement with them.Please if you can help me try to reply me urgently and i
will explain more to you.You will also stand as my guardian and caretaker.
i am waiting for your reply.
yours sincerely
Ms Fatinma Suleman
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Anti-fraud resources:
