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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:
- "search for a reliable person" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge deposit" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "the consignment" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "consignment " (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr. Osman Mark." <ekene_ekecy@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: osman_mark@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 20:17:43 +0100 (BST)
Subject: From Dr.Osman Mark.
Dear  Friend,
How are you today? I got your email address  from the internet during my search for a reliable person.
Yes, Late Mohammed Omar from Iraq made a huge deposit in our Company for long before his death.
I want us to partner so that I change the ownership of this Consignment to your name and transfer it to your country. Due to my position in the company I cannot lay claims to this Consignment on my own because it would be suspicious which is reason  I need your partnership to carry out this deal.
As you may know this Consignment can never be claimed by the family of the late Mohammed Omar since they don’t know about it.
The transactions of this kind require your presence to clear your doubt concerning this deal and also we secure the documents needed for transferring of the Consignment to your country together . I will give you guidelines on how to contact our company  when you indicate uncompromising readiness to partner with me.
On interest indication, you are required to kindly send me the information below to enable me configure your name on our data base system as the beneficiary of the said Consignment and then commence the process of making the transfer to you.
1. Full Name............2. Private Tel...........3. Your Age..............4. Your Country..........5. Your Occupation.........
However, if this business offer offends your moral ethics, kindlyaccept my sincere apologies.
Best Regards,Dr.Osman Mark.
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Anti-fraud resources:
