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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "lome togo" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- jamesfreeman999@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Mr. James Freeman <emma.okpo1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jamesfreeman999@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2012 05:13:25 -0500
Subject: My name is Mr. James Freeman .
Dear friend,
My name is Mr. James Freeman an auditor in the bank. I write for the
next opportunity in my office, which will have benefits for both of
us. In my department we discovered an abandoned sum of (five million
five hundred thousand Euros) in an account that belongs to one of our
foreign customers Late Engineer. (Daniel Rich ) in your country who
unfortunately lost his life to the airlines commercial jet crashed in
Sao Paulo in brazil and left huge amount of money in the bank.
The Finance Bank Lome Togo has issued me a notice to provide the next of
kin or have his account confiscated within twenty one official working
days. Since I have unsuccessfully in locating the relatives for over
one and a half years, I seek your consent to present you as next of
kin of the deceased, since you are a foreigner, I will give you vital
information to get the money .
Contact me for more information. (jamesfreeman999@gmail.com).
With best wishes.
Mr. James Freeman.
contact me for more information:+228-9816-5371.
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