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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 state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "MR DAVID ALLEN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrdavidallen1@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:58:42 -0700
Subject: Your quick response will be highly appreciated.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your mail and am contacting to notify you that your funds of (US$11 OOOOOO) ELEVEN MILLION United State Dollars has been approved for immediate transfer to you. For the purpose of clarification, you are advised to reconfirm your Full Names, Direct Telephone Numbers, Physical Address with Zip Code so that there will be no error during the transfer of the funds to you in your country of residence.
We vow promise and assure you that upon the receipt of your email response and detailed transfer information, the Bank shall proceed with the immediate transfer of the funds without any further delay.
Your quick response will be highly appreciated.
MR DAVID ALLEN;
UNITED KINGDOMm
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Anti-fraud resources:
