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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:
- "hundred thousand american 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "UN Compensatory Unit" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <compensatory.unit@pisem.net>
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2016 07:50:58 -0700
Subject: YOUR FUND.
Attention:
Please note that i have been searching for the real owner of this
electronic address for this important message . Kindly indicate if you
have receive your compensatory funds the total sum of (10,700.000.00) TEN MILLION SEVEN
HUNDRED THOUSAND AMERICAN DOLLARS.
We have tried all our possible ways and means to contact you but it failed
and we want to know if you are still alive ,so that we can finalized this
transaction once and for all.
WRITE BACK FOR CLAIMS
Best Regards,
Godswill Obot Akpabio.
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Anti-fraud resources:
