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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:
- "chambers" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: maguanglu101@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2013 23:39:46 -0500
Subject: Personal Email Directed To You
Attention Please!
I am sorry to encroach into your privacy in this manner, I found your
email contact in the Chambers of Commerce and Trade Centre directory here
in Hong Kong and I find it pleasurable to offer you my partnership in
business, I only pray at this time that your address is still valid.My
name is Ma Guang lu.I am the foreign operations manager of the bank of
China,Hong Kong.I have a business Proposal worth $17.3Million from my
bank,reply me immediately with the following details for information:
1.Full Name And address of residence.
2.telephone number.
Sincerely,
Guanglu.
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Anti-fraud resources:
