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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:
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. R. Smoker" <robertsmoker00@yahoo.com.hk>
Reply-To: robertsmoker01@yahoo.co.th
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 02:21:20 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Greetings
Greetings!
I am Robert Smoker the Executive Director Audit, Compliance and Risk Management of Brown Shipley Bank London and I am contacting you for a fund transfer amounting to £7.5M which has being placed in an escrow account without the knowledge of any person apart from me. With your sincere assistance and co-operation, I want to work this deal with you and have your name fixed in the bank payment schedule for an immediate transfer of this fund to you as the rightful beneficiary.
All the logistics and documentations towards the success of this transaction have been perfected by me.
Thanks and remain blessed.
Regards,
Mr.Robert Smoker
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Anti-fraud resources:
