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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: johnsonbrown@int.ubbgh.com
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2014 10:32:59 -0000
Subject: Re: Business Proposal
Dear Friend,
I am writing this to you in confidence, Late Nelson Mandela the Former
President of South Africa
deposited fund in our bank for Charity work, it was an allocation issue to
him by the United Nation to
help refugee and motherless children in the sub Sahara Africa, the Amount
was USD$20.5M
if you can stand as his appointed agent to execute the project for him in
West Africa then we can claim
this fund in your name and I will give you guide line on how to make this
deal a success.
We will use 15% of the fund into charity work and 80% in any area of
investment in your country and 5%
will be map out for expenses that will be incurred for document procession.
I want trust from you and await your sincere reply so that we can commence.
You the following to me.
Your full name
Contact address
Direct phone number
Thank you,
Dr Johnson Brown
Bank Manager
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Anti-fraud resources:
