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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: "Sgt. Jonathan Strand" <dean@uniswa.sz>
Reply-To: sgt_jonathanstrand@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:13:17 +0100
Subject: Your Kindness
--
Hello friend,
I am sorry to bother you with this and promise not to do it again if
you
do not respond back to me. I was the evacuation coordinator doctor
with the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO). I trouble you with the
urgent need of one of my patients who has a lot of money and
properties
here but has lost almost all his investments and assets, including his
finance because of the civil war that went on in Libya. I will give
you
his details as soon as he is ready to relocate after getting his wife
proper medical attention from our civilian medical center which should
be
within next week. All that is required is your willingness to be able
to
guarantee the safe deposit of his funds that will be transferred to
you
before he arrives in your country so he can invest with it and start a
life with
his family as soon as he finalizes arrangement with immigration.
Once again sorry for the intrusion. Will be looking forward to hearing
from you.
Sincerely
Sgt. Jonathan Strand
Evacuation Coordinator Doctor
North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO)
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Anti-fraud resources:
