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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: Mussa Ali <mussa_ali2009@sify.com>
Reply-To: mussaali001@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2013 03:16:20 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: Gold offer Urgent Reply
Dear Friend,
I am the CEO of a Small Scale Gold Mining Company and we are now trying to raise funds to expand our concession. I mean we have reduced the cost of our Gold as compared to the world market because we need some money to buy more tools.
We even have a peace of land full of gold, that's even the main reason why we have reduced our prices to a low rate. This is just an offer so I am asking if you are interested, we will do every necessary thing so that we can supply to you at your destination.
We would like to know if you will be on the edge to come down to Africa for inspection and after the assay test and you are Satisfied we assist you to ship the gold to your final destination.
Our price are Negotiable, and now we have 350 kg of 22+ carats and plus in stock.
Please if you are interested to this offer then I hope to hear from you soon
Best regards
Mussa Ali
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Anti-fraud resources:
