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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:
- "drbertrand11@gala.net" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "DOCTOR JAGBOTOWE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <drbertrand1O@gala.net>
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:28:09 -0000
Subject: 1200 KG GOLD FOR SELL
Good Day.
We are intermediary's that helps foreigner to buy Alluvial GOLD Dust; this is done bass
on our percentage of 2% of each Kilogram of Gold that you will purchase from the seller
here in Africa in Republic of Benin. We have in stock an important quantity of Alluvial
GOLD at hand on transit here in Republic of Benin and origin GHANA be sold. We are in
search of potential buyers or any person who can connect us with a good buyers any where
in the world for sincere partnership and long-lasting (sustainable) affair (business).
Our stock answers the following indications:
Quantity: 1200 kg
Quality: 22 carats
Purity: 98 %
Origin: Republic of GHANA
Price : US$ 7.500 / 1 Kilogram
From reception of your intention of purchase or intermediary's proposition, we shall
send you more details about our procedure of sale and with our conditions of purchase and
since the owner of the GOLD (seller) have already agreed to ship the whole GOLD to your
destination before payment and no upfront payment in this transaction ontil it gets to
your final destination, the payment will be Bank to Bank transactions.
NOTE: YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO BUY OR OFFER ANY UPFRONT PAYMENT FOR THE PURCHASING OF THE
GOLD DUST ONTIL IT GETS TO YOUR FINAL DESTINATION.
Looking forward to reading to you very soon,
Please receive the expression of our sincere consideration.
DR JAGBOTOWE Bertrand
Intermediary
Tel: 00229 97 65 62 72
Fax: 00229 21 30 45 871
Email: drbertrand11@gala.net
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Anti-fraud resources:
