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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:
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: donaldmahama@qq.com
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2014 18:01:16 -0500
Subject: Hello
Hello
How are you doing i hope you are fine,firstly when I saw
your name I was pushed to contact you and see how best we can assist each
other. I am Mr.Donald Mahama a Banker here in GHANA. I believe it is destiny
for me to come across your name here. I have an important business discussion I
wish to share with you which I believe will interest you,so i want you to reply
back so we see how you and i can help each other.We shall go over the details
once I receive your urgent response strictly through my personal email address:
donaldmahama@qq.com .Have a nice day and remain blessed.
Donald Mahama.
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Anti-fraud resources:
