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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)
- "cost of transfer" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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.Evans Egobia" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <charlesmaxwell@qq.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2013 09:03:48 -0700
Subject: Urgent Response !
Dear Friend
It is with trust and confidence that i write to make this urgent business proposal to you.i was assigned by two of my colleague to seek for a foreign partner who will assist us in providing a convenient foreign account in any designated bank abroad for transfer of us$35,500,000.00 pending on our arrival in your country for utilization and disbursement with the owner of the account.
This amount results from a deliberate inflation of the value of a contract awarded by our ministry - the Federal Ministry of Agriculture (FMA)
As government officials, we are not allowed to operate foreign accounts,and this is the reason why we decided to contact you.we have agreed that if you/your company can act as the beneficiary of this fund (us$35,500,000.00 million)25% of the total sum will be for you for providing the account while 5% will be set aside for the expenses incurred during the cost of transfer of the fund into your account while 70% will be for me and you.
Yours faithfully
Dr.Charles Maxwell
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Anti-fraud resources: