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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:
- "00,000.00" (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.
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <saaworldcup2010@writemail.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2010 17:31:20 +0200
Subject: Notification Letter
You've just been awarded US$2.500,000.00 for more information see attachment below
Mrs. Ruth Johnson
Si no es necesario no imprima este correo. Todos somos responsables
por el cuidado del medio ambiente. Este es un mensaje confidencial.
El mismo contiene informacion reservada que no puede ser difundida.
Si Usted ha recibido este e-mail por error, por favor avisenos
inmediatamente via correo electronico y tenga la amabilidad de
eliminarlo de su sistema. No debera copiar el mensaje ni divulgar
su contenido. Muchas gracias This message is confidential. It
contains information that is privileged and legally exempt from
disclosure. If you have received this e-mail by mistake, please let
us know immediately bye-mailand delete it from your system, you
should also not copy the message nor disclose its contents to
anyone. Thank you
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Anti-fraud resources:
