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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: "Lucky Mackson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <luckymackson282@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 03:52:08 +0100
Subject: I Am Looking For A Buyer Of Gold Dust/Dory Bars.
Dear Sir,
We understand that you have an interest in buying Gold Dust/Dory Bars. We have a capacity to produce between 50-1020 kgs of Alluvial Gold Dust every month. At the moment, we have 1020KG of dory bars now in a security warehouse, with an Assay Report from Asap Vasa and a Safe Keeping Receipt.
We have now approximately 1020kgs ready for sale. We submit below our FCO.
DESCRIPTION
PRODUCT – ALLUVIAL GOLD DUST/GOLD BARS
QUANTITY – 50-1020 KILOGRAMS
QUALITY – 23. CARATS
PRICE – US$27,500 PER KG
ORIGIN – GHANA WEST AFRICA
PURITY – 97% +
PROCEDURES:
We can make plans for the shipment of goods to your destination. This sale can be concluded on CIF basis. We look forward to establishing a long-lasting business relationship with you.
Thank for your co-operation.
Regards,
Mr. Lucky Mackson
Agent.
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Anti-fraud resources:
