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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "KDB Office Kakamega" <J.leslie@usmarine.mil>
Reply-To: johnleslie0163@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 04 May 2012 13:27:56 +0300
Subject: PERSONAL
Dear Friend,
How are you doing today i am sorry for bumping into your privacy i am John Leslie and i am presently with the USA marine corps stationed in Afghanistan;I may have failed the trust imposed on meas a service man but please i ask for forgiveness. I am seeking your assistances to evacuate the sum of.I will like to share some very vital information that would bring some good financial returns to us.I served in Iraq twice and during the course of my service there I discovered a lot and some of my discovery would be beneficial to me and also to you but it all depends on your view of my discoveries and how beneficial it would be to you.I will require your assistance to evacuate the sum of $1.8m to you,as far as I can be assured that it will be safe in your care until I complete my service here.
This may not be the best medium to make this kind of contact,but it is all I have access to for now.I will be very grateful if you can give me the opportunity to discuss this matter with you by assuring me that you will not use any part of it against me in anyway.I hope you understand my limitations here. Should you have reasons to reject this offer, please destroy this mail as any leakage will be
too bad for us.I will continue with the details when you signify your intention to work with me.
Respectfully,
John Leslie
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Anti-fraud resources:
