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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Equity Loan Company" <info@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: mikecutlerloans@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:47:54 -1100
Subject: Financial Loan offer: apply today
Hi My name is Mike Cutler. I am a private lender who give out loan to
private
and corporate individuals. Have you been turned down by so many banks? Do you
need finance to establish your business? Do you need finance for the
expansion
of you business? Or do you need a personal loan? Our loan ranges from
personal
to business loan. Our interest rate is very affordable and our loan
process is
very fast as well. We are very willing to make all your financial troubles a
thing of the past. Apply now!
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Anti-fraud resources:
