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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Thompson Morris <thompsonmorris33@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Thompson Morris <morris_thompson1@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2012 06:59:52 -0800 (PST)
Subject: (FULL CORPORATE OFFER - (AU METAL-GOLD DUST)
Dear Friend,
(FULL CORPORATE OFFER - (AU METAL-GOLD DUST)
We hereby offer you full corporate offer for sales and purchase of our product -under the penalty of perjury with
legal responsibilities under the following terms and conditions.
Commodity ---------------Alluvial Gold Dust
Quantity ---------------- 100kg
Quality ------------------ 22+ carat (93.66% or better)
Price ------------------- $45,000 USD 1Kg.
Origin ------------------- Ghana W/A
Delivery -----To buyer's destination
SELLER: Is the responsibility of the seller to arrange a forwarding agent to formicate shipping documents legally and to obtain a Clean Bill of laden to the buyer for any available airlines within 24 hours.
TERMS OF PAYMENT. By cash or negotiable between seller and buyer.
Seller is to appoint his delegate to accompany the product, and monitor refinery process and swift transfer of the payment. Other related matters shall be addressed during a round table discussion by the two parties. Your earlier response shall be highly appreciated. Please if you do not deal on this product, you can source for a buyer and have your commission.
Best Regards,
Morris Thompson.
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Anti-fraud resources:
