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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Johnson <jm888210@gmail.com>
Reply-To: johnsonmatt472@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 02:11:13 +1200
Subject: Proposal
Dear Friend
Greeting to you, my name is Mr. Matt Johnson. I am a senior banker
with one of the major banks in South Africa and I am the chief account
Officer to one of my late client who died in a helicopter crash in
France while inspecting one of his new projects.
I have the opportunity of making you the beneficiary of the fund the
sum of ($30.8M) deposited with our bank.
If you are interested forward the below info to me:
1. Full Name:.........................................2. Your Mobile
Number:............................................................
3. Your Contact
Address:.............................................4.
Age:..............................................................
5. Job/ Occupation:.....................................6) ID
Passport:.............................................................
I have all required documents which i will send to you as we
Proceed. Get back to me for more details about the deal only if you
are interested to actualize this deal with me
Best Regards
Mr. Matt Johnson
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Anti-fraud resources:
