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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Global Export Marketing Co Ltd." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <micfak2013@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 04:07:06 -0700
Subject: URGENT QUOTATION
Dear sir/madam,
We are a trading venture with different offers and acting world-wide. I saw your product on Alibaba.com and it is urgently needed. Please confirm to us if you currently have this products on stock. Confirm the possibility or your ability to make provision of the required products urgently so that we can proceed immediately to forward to you the quantity we require and the delivery details so that you can give us a proper quotation. Please kindly download to view the product sample attached to this mail and get back to us immediately with your FOB price per piece and minimum order quantity.
Thanks, Mrs. Jessica Moore.
Global Export Marketing Co Ltd.
450 Fashion Ave, Midtown New York, NY 10123
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Anti-fraud resources:
