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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)
- "offshore account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr. James Obika" <dr.jamesobika@gmail.com>
Reply-To: dr.jamesobika@outlook.com
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 20:04:50 +0300
Subject: Hello
Dear Friend, My name is Dr. James Obika, I am humbly request of you to be
my foreign partner to me help secure the sum of $8.5 million.i want to
transfer this funds to you, so that you will keep it for me in an offshore
account.and you will help me invest in your country i hope to come and meet
you in country after successful transfer of this funds I will give you 30%
for your assistance while 70% for my investment plan.
All I need from you is to stand as my foreign partner in your country and I
will re-profile the funds with your data, which will enable the financial
company release the money in your country .Contact me for more details
I am waiting to hear from you.
Sincerely
Dr. James Obika
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Anti-fraud resources:
