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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million 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)
- "diplomatic immunity" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Sgt. Edmond Baker" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <edmnbaker@mail.mn>
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:45:03 +0200
Subject: How are you?
IN GOD WE TRUST.
Hello,
My name is Sgt. Edmond Baker. I am an American soldier and am serving in the military with the 1st Armored Division in Iraq till date. As you know we are being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs/suicide bombers. However,i managed to move part of funds belonging to Saddam Hussein's family in 2009. The total amount is USD$20 Million dollars in cash mostly
100 dollar bills. This money has been kept somewhere outside Baghdad for some time but with the proposed troop in-increase by President Barrack Obama to end the war and make peace with Iraq militant and terrorist i am afraid that the money may be discovered. Hence i want to make sure that the money is in a safe hands pending the completion of our assignment here.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm
I am ready to compensate you with good percentage of this fund because no strings attached as Iraq is a war zone. I plan on using diplomatic means under diplomatic immunity-cover to ship this money as military cargo to a safe hand. I am contacting you with confidence as all arrangements for the successful delivery has been put in place. All i need from you is to receive the cargo from the delegated diplomat at your location.
I look forward to reading from you so as to extend more confidential details to you immediately.I really hope that i can trust.
Yours sincerely,
Sgt. Edmond Baker.
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Anti-fraud resources:
