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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:
- "hundred thousand united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Melissa Militante" <melmilitante@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mlsmm019@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2014 07:07:42 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: I Await Your Swift Response!
Good day,
I am Mrs. Melissa Adina Militante, the Regional Auditor Land Bank of the
Philippines. I have a business proposal worth of Ten Million and Two
Hundred Thousand United state Dollars for you and I want you to be my
partner in this business and also assist me to invest in a profitable
business in your country. I will give you more details upon your response
to this proposal.
If you are interested, please do get back to me immediately and I can send
you detailed information on the modalities of my proposition.
I completely trust you to keep this proposition absolutely confidential.
I look forward to your prompt response.
Best Regards,
Mrs. Melissa Adina Militante
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Anti-fraud resources:
