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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: "Connie Mitchell" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <cmitconnie@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:57:30 +0300
Subject: MY SAD TRIP !!!Connie Mitchell
Hi,
I'm sorry for not telling you about my trip to the United Kingdom, I’m writing this letter with tears in my eyes, my family and I came down here to Wales (Cardiff) United Kingdom for a short vacation unfortunately we were mugged at Gun point at the park of the hotel where we stayed, all cash, credit card and cell Phones were stolen off us but luckily we still have our passports with us.
We've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in few hrs from now but we're having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills.
Am freaked out at the moment...I will like you to assist me with a loan of $715.00 dollars to sort-out my hotel bills and to get myself back home.
I will appreciate whatever you can afford to assist me with. I'll refund the money back to you as soon as I return back home. Let me know if you can be of any help ASAP.
Connie.
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Anti-fraud resources:
