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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:
- "chief auditor" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- ken_douglas0001@yahoo.co.uk (Yahoo, United Kingdom; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: TRANSACTION
Reply-To: <ken_douglas0001@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 17 Oct 2015 15:48:46 +0530
Subject: URGENT MESSAGE
DEAR,
I AM DR KEN DOUGLAS, THE CHIEF AUDITOR INCHARGE OF FOREIGN REMITTANCE UNIT OF OUR BANK IN ACCRA GHANA, I HAVE CONTACTED YOU OVER THIS TRANSACTION WORTH THE SUM OF ($ 28.300.000.00 Million Dollar) FOR OUR SUCCESS.I WANT TO USE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS TO MOVE THE SUM OF $ 28.3MILLION DOLLAR OUT FROM MY BANK.
YOU HAVE THE ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY TO CLAIM THE FUND WHICH I KNOW IS POSSIBLE IF YOU LIAISE PROPERLY WITH ME YOU WILL GET 30% OF THE TOTAL FUNDS AS YOUR BENEFIT HENCE YOU ARE A FOREIGNER AS SOON AS YOU REPLY, STEP TO FOLLOW IN ORDER TO FINALIZE THIS TRANSACTION IMMEDIATELY WOULD BE DECLEARED TO YOU. I EXPECT YOU'RE URGENT COMMUNICATION ON MY PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS:
(ken_douglas0001@yahoo.co.uk).
SINCERELY YOURS
DR KEN DOUGLAS
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Anti-fraud resources:
