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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:
- "loan amount" (Beware of fake loan offers. Real lenders would not normally use free webmail addresses such as Yahoo, nor would they lend to individuals or small businesses in a different country from where they are based. Beware of mobile phones or redirector numbers!)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "SMITH LOAN INVESTMENT LIMITED" <info@loan.com>
Reply-To: donaldsmithfirm003@live.com
Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 08:57:02 -0600
Subject: N/A
Am Rev. Donald Smith CEO SMITH LOAN INVESTMENT LIMITED, we give out loan
to individual anywhere around the world to help them solve their financial
problems at 1% interest rate if you are interested you can apply now with
your NAME,AGE,LOAN AMOUNT NEEDED,SEX,OCCUPATION AND PURPOSE OF LOAN. We
awaites your response as soon as possible. Contact us via email on
donaldsmithfirm003@live.com. REV. DONALD SMITH.
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Anti-fraud resources:
