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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:
- "million dollars" (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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- chaioffice2@sify.com (Sify; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: " Barr.Leong Chai" <barr.chaioffice@sify.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: chaioffice2@sify.com
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:35:06 +1030
Subject: Good day
I am Barr Leong Chai, an attorney at law. A deceased client of mine,
that shares the same last name as yours died as the result of a
heart-related condition on March 12th 2005. His heart condition was
due to the death of all the members of his family in the tsunami
disaster on the 26th December 2004 in Sumatra Indonesia.
And in the record there is no known successor to this deposit of the
deceased who died without a will. I can be reached on
(chaioffice2@sify.com) for more information. My late Client has
deposit of Eighteen Million Dollars ( US$18 Million Dollars) left
behind.
Best Regard
Leong Chai.
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Anti-fraud resources:
