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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "a project that will be very beneficial to both of us" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge amount of money" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Pupsy Orlando <pupsyorlando5@yahoo.co.nz>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:16:24 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: REPLY TO MY MAIL
Dear Friend,
I am Mr Pupsy Orlando Bill And exchange manager of the Banque commercial du Burkina (B.C.B ] Ouagadougou Burkina-Faso .
I have a project that will be very beneficial to both of us,concerning some huge amount of money and our sharing ratio is 60% for me and 40% for you.
On your acceptance to be my partner,please contact my private cell phone or send text message through this number +22678687612 for more adequate discussion .
Looking forward to hear from you .
best regard
Pupsy
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Anti-fraud resources:
