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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:
- "into your nominated bank account" (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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "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)
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: David Wright <david_wright1945@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: David Wright <david_wright1966@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2011 04:30:39 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Greetings.
Dear Future partner,
My Name is Mr.David Wright. I work as the head of Fund Manager Executive with UBS AG Investment Bank London (UK) and would like to know if you will be at my disposal to handle a risk free transaction with me.I have used my position as the Fund Executive Manager to divert the sum of 15,500,000.00 pounds (GBP) from our Investor's Capital Management Funds under to my Portfolio and would like to know if you are interested to work with me to receive this fund in your account without any legal implication attached. Our sharing ratio is 50:50 since it is a fair deal. I will provide further information on the above subject matter upon the receipt of your favorable response. If you are interested kindly reply to indicate your interest, then I shall Furnish you with the method of application and how you can apply to the bank for the release and transfer of the fund into your nominated bank account.You can as well enclose your direct telephone numbers for
discussion of this offer in further details.
I await your urgent response.
Yours sincerely,
Mr David Wright.
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Anti-fraud resources:
