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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: "Mrs Cynthia Chen" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <unitekltd1@live.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2014 05:46:13 -0600
Subject: Greetings From Unitek Co. Ltd
Greetings From Unitek Co. Ltd
Please we are interested in your
product i would appreciate you reply
to the below
Lead-time (time) for mass production.
Lead-time (days) for pre production
samples.
Minimum order quantity, Delivery
Period/Mode and
Best FOB Prices with clear photos of
similar item
Await your reply urgently so as to
place an order of your product
Have a wonderful day .
Unitek Co. Ltd
Purchasing manager,
unitekltd@live.com
Mrs Cynthia Chen
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Anti-fraud resources:
