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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- 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)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "diplomatic immunity" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- 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.
- jjohnsgt@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Johnson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jjohnsgt@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:59:18 -0700
Subject: Dear Sir/Madam.
Attention:
My name is Sgt Phil Johnson and I am an American soldier serving in the Engineering military unit in Ba'qubah in Iraq.As you know,we are being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombings.We stumbled into Saddam Hussein's storage vault and discovered some funds.The total amount is US$25 Million dollars in cash,mostly 100 dollar bills tightly tied in $1000.00 bundles.We want to move this money to a reputable/sincere person for investment purposes.This is the reason for contacting you.
We are ready to compensate you with good percentage of the funds. The only thing we require from you is just for you to help us move the funds out of Iraq because Iraq is a war zone. We plan on using diplomatic means to shipping the money out as military cargo, using diplomatic immunity. If you are interested I will send you the full details. My job is to find a good and respectable partner with great repute that we can trust that will assist us. Can we trust you? When you receive this letter,kindly send me an e-mail signifying your interest including your most confidential telephone numbers and your full mailing address.
This is 100% risk free.
All responses to:jjohnsgt@aol.com
Regards,
Sgt Phil Johnson.
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