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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:
- "i got your email address from " (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: moreenmabuo@seznam.cz
Reply-To: moreenmabuo@hotmail.com
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:58:49 +0100 (CET)
Subject: hie
Hello.
Ang pangalan ko ay Moreen ako got ang iyong email address mula sa google guestbook Directory at nagpasyang sa mail na kayo para sa isang pahintulot na sige na, ako ay din bang alam mo ang higit pa, at ako na nais mong sumagot sa akin ang aking email address upang ako ay maaaring magbigay ng ninyo ang aking larawan para sa iyo na malaman kung sino ako. Sa tingin ko maaari naming ilipat mula dito! Ako ay naghihintay para sa iyong tugon sa aking email address. (Tandaan ang distansya o kulay ay hindi bagay na pag-ibig ngunit ang mga bagay na alotin buhay.
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Hello.
My name is Moreen i got your email address from google guestbook Directory and decided to mail you for a permission to go ahead,i will also like to know you the more, and i want you to reply me to my email address so i can give you my picture for you to know whom i am. I believe we can move from here! I am waiting for your reply to my email address. (Remeber the distance or colour does not matter but love matters alotin life.
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Anti-fraud resources: