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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: SANDOO RICHARD <jou@emome.net>
Reply-To: <richard-sandoo111@ig.com.br>
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:20:07 +0000
Subject: I AM MR SANDOO RICHARD
I AM MR SANDOO RICHARD THE MANAGER FOREIGN REMITTANCE
DEPARTMENT IN AFRICA DEVELOMENT BANK (A.D.B IN BURKINA FASO.
I WILL LIKE YOU TO INDICATE YOUR INTEREST TO RECEIVE THE
TRANSFER OF US$15 MILLION. 6O% FOR ME AND 40% FOR YOU, YOU
WILL STAND AS NEXT OF KING TO MY LATE CUSTOMER WHO DIE IN ASIA EARTH
QUAKE DISASTER (TSUNAMI DISASTER INDONESIA / INDIA.. I WILL
LIKE YOU TO FORWARD THE INFORMATION BELLOW TO ME IF YOU ARE
INTERESTED.
1) Your Full Name............
2) Your
Age................................
3) Marital
Status...............................
4) Your Phone
Number..............................
5) Your Fax
Numbers..............................
6) Your COUNTRY.......................
7) Your
Occupation..............................
8)
Sex............................................
WAITING TO
HEAR FROM
MR SANDOO RICHARD
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Anti-fraud resources:
