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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:
- "million british pounds" (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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mr Sullivan Alexander <walker.smith2008@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: sullivan.alexander1@msn.com
Date: Wed, 9 Jun 2010 18:54:30 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: urgent reply.
Hello/Sir/Madam
My Name is Mr. Alexander Sullivan and I am an investment consultant working here in London with Fidelity Bank plc .I discover a dormant account with holding balance of 52,000,000 00. (Fifty two Million British Pounds) I will be happy to work this deal out with you if you have a personal Bank Account or company account which can received the money and withdraw. I need strong Assurance from you if you are capable to handle the fund till I come down to your country and have my own share and investment.
As at this moment, I am constrained to issue more details about this business until your response is received.
I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible if you are interested.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Warmest regards,
Mr. Alexander Sullivan
Fidelity Bank plc
P.O.Box.19, Bank
10 Old Jewry
London EC2R 8DN
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Anti-fraud resources:
