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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:
- "transaction is 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: "Julietta Yao" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <julietta.yao2015@gmx.fr>
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2015 23:22:56 +0200
Subject: Good morning From Miss Julietta Yao
Good morning,
I am writing you this letter in spite of the fact that we have never met each other in person before. I am Miss Julietta Yao, I am young woman of 32 yrs old. I am Ivorian National and a banker by profession.. I have a business transaction which i wanted you to participate. A secured bank deal.
It is a fund transfer of $11.000.000, deposited by a deceased client for onward transfer to the nominated bank account of his foreign associate. This transaction is risk free for you. I have set aside 40% of the total sum as your commission and 60% shall be for myself. If you are ready to participate, For your assistance, kindly reply through my email to enable me detail you about your role this transaction . Thanks as i anticipate hearing from you.
Sincerely yours
Miss Julietta Yao
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Anti-fraud resources:
