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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:
- "confidential business" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "chief auditor" (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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: George Raoul <georgeraouul@ovi.com>
Reply-To: <georgeraoul@ovi.com>
Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2012 05:20:41 +0000
Subject: Respected.
--
Greetings,
I got your profile and decided to write you for an important and
confidential business proposal. My name is Mr.George Raoul from Togo.
It's Just my urgent need for a foreign partner that led to my contacting
you about this transaction. I am a banker by profession and currently
holding the post of Chief Auditor in our Bank. I have the opportunity of
transferring an unclaimed fund ($16.5M) belonging to one of my clients
who died in a plane crash. Having no one coming up to claim his funds
and if left unclaimed will be transferred to the government treasury by
the bank.
Hence, I am inviting you for a business deal where we can facilitate
the transfer of this fund and have promised 50% as your percentage once
we are through, if you agree to my business proposal. Further details of
the transfer will be forwarded to you as soon as I receive your mail
response with your phone number, address, date of birth
Occupation/position and your marital status.
Yours Faithfully
Mr.George Raoul
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Anti-fraud resources:
