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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:
Fraud email example:
From: "Anthony Brand" <tbrand44@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:18:54 +0700
Subject: Please respond immediately
>From Anthony Brand,
I know this is not the best medium to contact you but I am most compelled
due to the urgency and time frame needed to execute this project. I wish
to introduce to you a project that would be of immense benefit to both of
us. Being an executor of wills, it is possible that we may be tempted to
make funds out of our client's situations; when we cannot help it or left
with no better option.
The issue I am presenting to you is a case of my client who died without a
will of intestate and left US$15 million in the coffers of a security
company. It was most unfortunate that he and his supposed next-of-kin died
on the same day in an auto-crash. However, I don't belong to that school
of thought which proposes that the funds of unlucky people be given to the
government as that is the regulation if it is unclaimed.
I therefore seek for your assistance in presenting you as next of kin to
the deceased. Please give your response once you receive this email to
enable me reveal other details pertaining the claim, the deceased and our
country's inheritance procedure.
Reward is 40% of the total amount to be inherited.
Yours in Service,
Anthony Brand
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Anti-fraud resources:
