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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: camella west <camellawest85@att.net>
Reply-To: camellawest1012@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2010 07:17:09 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Hi Dear
Hi Dear
how are you today i hope that you are doing fine as i am feeling
alright also my name is Camella west, l am searching for a real friend
that is trust and worthy and caring.a friend who understand the real
meaning of love and trust in each other a mature partner that will be
faithful to me and will understand that
a real love dose not count distance or colour after reading your
profile (emails) at internet i feel a great joy in my heart withing me
.i took interest on you despite that i have not seen you in person but
your profiles really gave me a nice pleasure to communicate with you.
and I hope you will be the true loving, honest partner that I have been
looking for, And I have something special to tell you about me please i
will like you to reply to me urgently so i will tell you more about my
self this is my box above please try to mail me back on my emailaddress
so that i can be able to send you my pictures,God bless you.
Miss Camella.
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Anti-fraud resources:
