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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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: gloria amponsah <gloriaanponsa3@gmail.com>
Reply-To: gloria1970900@outlook.com
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2015 23:23:52 +0000
Subject: Dear friend i need your urgent respond.
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Good day to you,
Dear this letter will come to you as a surprise since we have not met
before. My name is Mrs. Gloria Anponsah, an auditor general of a bank. I am
writing to you with respect, trust and honest. This is a deal of fifteen
Million United State dollars. ($15.M) abandon money I found in my
department and I need a trust and honest person overseas who will help me
to receive the money in his country as a foreign business partner. I will
give you 40% of the money and I will take 60%; this is 100% risk free. On
your interest please content me for more details. Best regard,
Mrs. Gloria. Amponsah.
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Anti-fraud resources:
