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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "the consignment" (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)
- "trunk box" (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)
- "trunk boxes" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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: "Mr.Collins Otoo" <igelna201@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: <igelna201@rediffmail.com>
Date: Thu, 26 May 2011 00:29:19 +0100
Subject: BUSINESS ARRANGEMENT
Dear Friend,
My name is Mr.Collins Otoo I work with Security Company here in Republic of Ghana and would like to present a Business Proposal for your consideration.
I have Two metallic trunk boxes US Dollar depoisted to our company with a total amount of US$49,400,000.00 in cash
This boxes in question has not been claim by the Foreign Beneficiary for a period of ten (10) years till date. All my efforts to locate the Beneficiary in his Oversees Address prove abortive. Therefore, I am set to find a Partner to claim the consignments with a sharing ratio of 50-50. Should you be interested, you are hereby advised to send me your direct telephone numbers for discussion of this offer in full details.
I do hereby anticipate your response as soon as possible
Thank you.
Respectfully,
Mr.Collins Otoo
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Anti-fraud resources:
