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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:
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Douglas Smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <smichael651@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2015 01:33:28 -0300
Subject: Urgent Proposal
Dear Sir,
I am Mr. Michael Smith a citizen of the United Kingdom. I have been mandated by a close associate to solicit for a reliable business man who will assist him in the investment of his funds deposited with the Fidelity Investments (Worldwide) Ltd (GB).
My associate is a citizen of Syria, a country that has been turned apart by war.
My associate has a large sum of money which he would like to invest in profitable areas of investments.
I solicit for your assistance in the investment of these funds deposited with the Fidelity Investments Ltd with an open beneficiary.
I will give you more details on this pending transaction as soon as I hear from you.
I await your urgent response.
Regards,
Mr. Michael Smith.
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Anti-fraud resources:
