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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:
- "dear friend" (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: "Mr. Charles Dube" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrcharlesq01@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:03:34 -0700
Subject: Dear Friend.
(From: Mr. Charles Dube Republic of South Africa)
Dear Friend,
I am Mr. Charles Dube son of Late Mr. David Dube a wealthy black farmer in Zimbabwe. The ugly situation in Zimbabwe has made me to consider relocating overseas. I am currently staying in South Africa with my mother.
I want to relocate to your country. I want to know if you could assist me in bringing my family money amounting to USD$25.500.000.00 Twenty Five Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollar which we have deposited in one of the Private Security company in Johannesburg South Africa, so we are now looking for a foreign investor/partner who would assist us to relocate with our fund overseas and at the same assist us to invest the money abroad while we are prepared to compensate you with 20% of the total amount involved for all the roles you would play to assist us. This money is genuine and legal because we have all the legal documents.
A prompt response would be appreciated.
Best regards,
Mr. Charles Dube.
Republic of South Africa
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Anti-fraud resources:
