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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Loan Offer <cbrown@berea.k12.oh.us>
Reply-To: Access Co-operative offer <online_care10@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 07:50:08 -0400 (EDT)
Subject:
Hello Are you in any financial problem? Do you need quick Funds for Capital so you can get back to business. or you need funds to pay off your bills If-YES-do contact us back for more detail for loan application process.
This email is intended only for the addressee(s) and may contain material that is confidential under state and federal law. If you were not an intended recipient, please notify the sender and delete all copies. Berea School District email is to be used only for school purposes. The District may monitor email to and from its network. This email and any response to it may be archived for later retrieval and may constitute a public record and therefore may be made available upon request in accordance with Ohio Public Records law (ORC 149.43).
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Anti-fraud resources:
