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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:
- "transferred into your bank account" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "million dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "jpierreo24@outlook.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Jean-Pierre Owaoma <jimuzo101@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2015 20:05:38 +0000
Subject: Greetings,
Greetings,
I'm Jean-Pierre Owaoma. A personal lawyer to a citizen of your country
who passed away here in my country Republic of Togo ten year ago. He
left a huge amount with a bank here. The amount is US$5.7 million
dollars. I contacted you to help me get the money transferred into
your bank account there in your country. If you will assist me do this
please get back to me immediately for more info. Send your reply to my
email : jpierreo24@outlook.com
Best regard,
Jean Pierre Owaoma
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Anti-fraud resources:
