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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:
- "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)
- "power of attorney" (with your bank details and a power of attorney form criminals sometimes empty bank accounts)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Patricia" <hod2invest@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: zantaipatricia@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2012 18:20:51 +0300
Subject: Date: 19 /6 / 2012
Dear:
My name is Mrs. Patricia from London, England; I am banker and a private
consultant for very eminent persons in the Asian and East Europe region. The=
y
have appointed me to source on their behalf a foreigner with whom they can
jointly entrust a reasonable amount of money, which will be channeled into a
highly lucrative business venture. They have $150million (One hundred =20
and fifty
million United States Dollars) they request strict confidentiality due =20
to their
public nature, they prefer to be anonymous hence I have been given the manda=
te
to source for someone of high business experience with very good reputation.
Proposal in summary:
My client are top government officials in the Asian and East Europe =20
region they
want the fund to be invested through a well-established businessman abroad w=
ho
can front for them without disclosing their identity. A power of attorney wi=
ll
be given to you to manage these funds on their behalf and you will be =20
awarded as
compensation, a certain percentage from the proceeds of the =20
investment, which is
negotiable.=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
Note importantly that I have been contacted by two different people in =20
the past
month that made me believe that they were serious about doing business but
proved otherwise. I do not appreciate my being wasted in matters such as thi=
s.
So if truly you are interested in proceeding; kindly indicate by sending a
response with the following information trough my email.
[1]Full Names:
[2]Contact address:=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
[3]Direct Telephone/Fax Number
[4]Occupation
[5]Age=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =20
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =20
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
Yours sincerely=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
Mrs. Patricia
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Anti-fraud resources:
