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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: wendy <wk9007@yahoo.com.au>
Reply-To: wk90007@yahoo.com.au
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:40:49 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Its Urgent, Please respond
Sorry to bother you about this
I am presently in Spain and am facing some difficulties here because i
misplaced my wallet where my money and credit card were kept. Presently
my passport and belongings have been seized by the hotel management
pending when i settle my bills.
I need you to lend me 2,850 Euros to settle my hotel bills and get
myself back home. I have reported the incident to the police here but
they are not responding to the matter effectively.
I will reimburse the money as soon as i return. Please let me know if
you can be of help ASAP. I don't have a phone where i can be reached, i
only have limited access to internet here.
Wendy
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Anti-fraud resources:
