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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: "Mr. Euleen Wong" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mr.euleenwong@yahoo.com.my>
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2011 02:26:05 -0500
Subject: PRIVATE!!!
Good day!
My name is Mr. Euleen Wong, trained and working as Treasury and Markets Officer in the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS).I write to contact you about inheritance claim of some exorbitant amount belonging to a Foreigner (investor) who died here in Singapore, Twenty-two years ago; name withheld for security reasons.
I choose you in this transaction because I want both of us to establish a joint venture in any high yielding business portfolio in your country if you can help claim and receive the funds from our bank, Development Bank Singapore.
Please get back to me with the following required information if interested:
I. RE-CONFIRM YOUR FULL NAMES:
ii. CONTACT ADDRESS:
iii. DATE OF BIRTH:
iv. TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER:
v. OCCUPATION:
Upon your reply I shall furnish you with more details.
Best regards,
Mr. Euleen Wong
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Anti-fraud resources:
