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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:
- "god-fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "GOLD DEALER" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <john_kwesi095@contractor.net>
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2012 16:34:24 +0300
Subject: BUSINESS PORPOSAL
Hello,
Permit me to introduce myself to you. I am Mr. John Kwesi ,a Ghanaian investor. I have proceeds from years of running my Gold business outfit here in Ghana and i'm looking at expanding the tentacles of my business in Europe. I am looking for a God-fearing person of European descent to help make this business prospects a reality as I know that Europe is a safe place for business. The reason why I need someone I can trust to stand as the CEO of this company for me in Europe is because I do not have legal papers to start a company there as I am not a citizen or a resident of your country. You are entitled to 10% of the company's worth and have a right to another 10% of profits monthly if you decide to stand for me in making this my prospective company a reality. You will contribute no cash to this business,all you have to do is stand as the owner of this Gold business i want to start in your country. you can be sure that God is a good business and has high market value,which me!
ans it's a win-win situation for y
If you agree to do this then I will fly over to your country with the cash. You don't necessarily have to accomodate me as I can arrange hotel accomodation for myself pending the time the business is sealed. with your license approved I can bring in Gold for the company from Ghana,this is 100% quality we are talking about here.
If you are interested and feel I can trust you then hit me back and let's talk more about this.
J. Kwesi.
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Anti-fraud resources:
