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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:
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Cullen Bekker" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <cullenbekker@yahoo.pt>
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2015 05:52:32 -0700
Subject: PROPERTY INQUIRY
Dearest Confidant
I take the liberty to introduce myself first to you. My Name is Cullen Bekker, and I represent a group of high
profile individual from china who intends to purchase big properties in the united states and Canada
However because of the lauguage barrier, my client cannot directly communicate with realtors and property owners
in America or canada hence we would need your assistance to help us get introduced to real estate owners or
realtors he can make purchase from.
My client is ready to oblige you 3% of the total value of the property, bearing in mind also that the realtor
would also have his percentage.
Please this assistance has nothing to do with your normal regular endeavour as it is a transaction you shall
gain favourably from.
Please do get back to me on my reply email so that i can get you directly introduced to my client
remain blessed
Cullen Bekker
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Anti-fraud resources:
