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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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 us 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- jsalawu@rocketmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "jamiu" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jsalawu@rocketmail.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2012 00:02:57 -0700
Subject: ARE YOU HONEST TO THE CALL?
Good day,
I am Mr. Jamiu.Salawu. I represent the interest of my brother in-law who is a minister in the Syrian Government. As you probably know, there is a lot of crisis going on currently in Syria and my brother in-law is having problems with the ruling party and they are currently investigating his ministry. While he is sure that he has not done anything wrong, there is also every reason for him to secure his family’s future in case the unexpected happens. He has asked me to help him find a reputable foreigner who can help him accommodate and invest $73.9 Million US Dollars privately. This amount is available in cash and can be moved out of safely without any problems.
I am contacting you with the hope that we can do this business together. We need your help to accommodate and lodge the funds in the banking system in your country. We will handle the logistics involved in the movement of the funds to you. Please note that the entire business will be executed in a legal way in such that it won’t jeopardize your safely. He has promised to give you 20% of the total money as compensation for this unusual request because he understands that a lot of compromise and manoeuvre must be done from your side to be able to accommodate and convert this fund for investment in your country. This project will be done discretely. He also would like to know if you can help with investing the remaining 80% in a lucrative business in your country within a period of 5 years.
If this proposal interests you, please kindly respond ASAP. When I get a positive response from you via my personal email address: jsalawu@rocketmail.com I will give you all the details involved in the execution of this transaction. Hopefully, we can do some good business together.
Regards,
Jamiu.Salawu
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