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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "hundred thousand us 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)
- "lome togo" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: uchemarcus <uchemarcus@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 17:31:31 +0100
Subject: reply
DEAR FRIEND,
I AM UCHE MARCUS A WORKER OF A BANK HERE IN LOME TOGO IN MY
DEPARTMENT WE DISCOVERED AN ABANDONED SUM OF US$10.5M(TEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED
THOUSAND US DOLLARS) IN ACCOUNT THAT BELONG TO THE A DECEASED CUSTOMER WHO
DIED WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY IN AIR CRASH IN THE YEAR 2005 I HAVE MADE
SEVERAL ENQUIRIES TO LOCATE ONY OF THE EXTENDED RELATIVES,BUT ALL MY
EFFORTS PROVED UNSUCCESSFUL.
SO THEREFORE,I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE TO STAND AS A NEXT OF KIN IF YOU
ARE INTERESTED,YOU SHOULD KINDLY GET BACK TO ME
SO WE CAN ASSOCIATE IN PARTNERSHIP.
TRULY YOURS,
MR UCHE MARCUS.
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Anti-fraud resources:
