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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Hassan Muktar" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <hassanmuktaree@outlook.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2013 17:58:19 +0100
Subject: Investment Proposal
Hello.
I am an investor looking to invest in entrepreneurial teams with big ideas and a seed capital to turn their ideas into great companies. I believe every business man is basically an entrepreneur, for we all strive to achieve optimal goals using limited resources. In seeking out worthwhile investment opportunities, we are always on the lookout for ventures whose principals exhibit a high level of creativity combined with the right amount of experience in the chosen field.
Kindly take out a moment of your very busy schedule to reply to me and let me know the amount you want to invest into your business or ideas.
Yours truly.
Hassan Muktar
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Anti-fraud resources: