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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- officeinformation04@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
- help move the funds for safety. sgt.lola klaus officeinformation04@gmail.com lola.klaus@yahoo.com (Gmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "LOLA KLAUS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <lola.klaus@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:04:14 +0100
Subject: CAN YOU HANDLE IT??//80.4.148.30
Hi,
My name is Sgt.Lola Klaus, I'm an American Soldier serving under the U.S. 1st Armored Division which was at the fore-front of the war in Iraq. We discovered some funds when on routine foot patrol at Fallujah Iraq at company's compound; we can't keep these funds so we want to move the funds to you to keep it for us in your safe account. The money is legit. If you're interested get back to me for details. I've got everything under control, and I can assure you that this business is risk free.
I will be vivid and coherent in my next message in this regard, if only you're interested to help move the funds for safety.
Sgt.Lola Klaus
officeinformation04@gmail.com
lola.klaus@yahoo.com
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Anti-fraud resources: