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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:
- "top of the day to you" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "financialfirm@windowslive.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "GINO LOAN FIRM" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <financialfirm@windowslive.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:32:57 -0700
Subject: Top Of The Day To You Sir/ Ma
Top Of The Day To You Sir/ Ma,Are you in need of a business loan,with low
interest rate of 2%.Do you want to broaden the horizon of your
enterprise.Do you have a project to finance.Are you business oriented but
have no finance to startup your own firm? If you are interested for any
kind of loan,get back to us as soon as possible.GINO LOAN FIRM is the
solution to your financial constraints. For fast and easy loan please
E-mail us via: financialfirm@windowslive.com Be informed.Thanks
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Anti-fraud resources: