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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:
- "time is not on our side" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "John" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnemoore20027@sify.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:21:39 -0600
Subject: IMPORTANT NOTE 125.7.34.122
DEAR SIR/MADMA
THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE YOUR PAYMENT FILE ON MY TABLE STATING THAT YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PAID YOUR LONG OVER DUE FUND FOR
ONE REASON OR THE OTHER AND THAT YOU HAVE SPENT SOME MONEY YET NOTHING HAD HAPPENED TO YOUR PAYMENT BEEN RELEASED TO YOU.
I AM PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR LONG OVER DUE PROBLEM WILL BECOME A THING OF THE PAST ONCE YOU CAN GET BACK TO ME AND STATE TO
ME WHAT HAPPENED IN THE TIME PAST AND WHAT IS HOLDING THE FUND FROM HITTING YOUR ACCOUNT.
IF YOU STILL HAVE ANY OUTSTANDING FEES THAT YOU ARE UNABLE TO PAY LET ME KNOW SO AS TO KNOW HOW WE CAN HELP GET THE PAYMENT DONE
WITHOUT YOU PAYING FROM YOUR OWN MONEY,YOU MUST ACT FACT AS TIME IS NOT ON OUR SIDE TO DO THIS.
I WILL BE WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU SO THAT WE CAN ACT ON TIME ON YOUR CASE.
BEST REGARDS
JOHN MOORE
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Anti-fraud resources:
