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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Tony Clarke <tonyclarke002@gmail.com>
Reply-To: tonyclarke007@hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 06:25:16 -0700
Subject: Can you handle this transaction please?
Dear friend,
As a matter of urgency, kindly let me know if you can handle and
invest the sum of Twenty Five Million United States Dollars (US$25
million) in your country or elsewhere.
The fund is presently kept secured somewhere in the United Kingdom. I
shall give you further details on this fund and the process to hand it
over to you when I get a positive response from you.
If you can sincerely handle this pending my meeting with you, kindly
forward your following details to me for documentation and the fund
transfer.
Your full names and address
Your direct telephone number
A trusted bank account into which the fund will be LEGALLY transferred into.
Regards,
Tony Clarke
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Anti-fraud resources:
