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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:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dennis Coleman" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <allgeorge11@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2017 17:12:44 +0100
Subject: From Mr. Dennis Coleman
Hello Sir/Madam
Please the content of this mail must be kept very confidential. I am
Mr. Dennis Coleman and I am the chief Accountant of a very reputable Oil
Company in my Country. I will like to introduce a Business deal to you
which will be beneficial to both of us. I wish to transfer fund for
investment in your country of the sum of $10.5M and I need a capable
person that can receive the funds on my behalf.
At the moment, the fund is deposited with a Security Company and needs
to be transferred out of the Country asap to avoid complications. If
you are interested and capable of handling this deal and receive the
fund in your Country without any hitch, do get back to me immediately.
I will give you full details of this deal as soon as I receive your
positive response.
Regards,
Mr. Dennis Coleman
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Anti-fraud resources: