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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:
- "genaddo@msn.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: "Gen. Edward Addo" <mrs.rosemarry51@gmail.com>
Reply-To: genaddo@msn.com
Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:16:27 +0100 (BST)
Subject: PRIVATE MESSAGE TO YOU.
Hello,
I am general Edward Addo, I am on peace-keeping mission in Libya, And i discovered a metallic box of fund worth 9million usd so i do not want to disclose this to the united Nations so am looking for a partner that will help me recive this truck box before i will come join you so that we can invest the funds toggther because i have no wife no brother no sister i wnat you as my friend and a true brother or sister Please do include your phone number and house address in your reply to me.for complete info. Please contact me at my email: genaddo@msn.com Thank you. Regards,Gen. Edward Addo
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Anti-fraud resources:
