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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:
- "contactharry@ilike2invest.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Wong" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <h_wong30@aol.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2013 23:11:52 +0100
Subject: RE: INVESTMENT PROPOSAL
Dear Prospective Partner,
My name is Mr. Wong and I am writing to you on behalf of Mr. Carson Yeung. We are looking for a person/company that can handle a capital sum of $25M outside China. Mr. Yeung is in a very difficult situation and he wishes to divest this sum out of Beijing, China.
This is a public placement and a legal venture. I advise you read the news site below to appreciate this business call correctly:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14471482
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-20523831
It is very important you realize my client and his circumstances before you consider joining this project. For more information, you can email me at contactharry@ilike2invest.com for further details, terms and agreement.
Cordially,
Mr. Wong.
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Anti-fraud resources:
