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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: "Mrs Tracy John Mills" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <loanadvert13@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:58:59 -0000
Subject: [*** BULK ***] FYI(IF INTERESTED)
Hello Customers,
We the global Loan Company marketer uses this medium to inform you that we can help you find a reputable, respected and registered loan company that you can get a loan from without been scammed.
For more information you are to send to us this information below:
Full Names:
Country:
We promise to send your information to one of the lending loan companies in the United Kingdom and they will contact you immediately
Mrs Tracy John Mills
Global Loan Marketer
Copyright 1996 - 2012 All rights reserved.
Last Updated: January 1, 2012
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Anti-fraud resources: