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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "CocaCola" (may be fake)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2010 17:43:34 -0300
Subject: CocaCola survey
Dear Sir/Madam,
You have been selected to participate in a public opinion poll conducted
by Coca Cola, a non-partisan polling organization.
The poll is about current events at the national level and your views
about them. It is short and should take you only 5-7 minutes to
complete. All of your answers will be kept strictly confidential and
will be used only for legitimate research purposes.
To take the poll, click on this link:
www.CocaCola.Co.UK/Survey_Pool/150Pounds/5-7min/Survey.html
Each person taking the poll will win $50
Thank you for your participation!
Sincerely,
Survey Manager
© 2010 The Coca-Cola Company, all
rights reserved. Coca-Cola and the Coca-Cola contour bottle are
registered trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company
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Anti-fraud resources:
