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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: "DR.X" <curetohivaids@medicare.com>
Reply-To: <freemeniq@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:07:00 +0100
Subject: HIV/AIDS CURE
CURE TO HIV/AIDS
DEAR SIR,
I AM A FULLY CERTIFIED MEDICAL DOCTOR BUT I AM AFRAID I AM UNABLE TO DISCLOSE MY NAME
AT THIS TIME.
I HAVE INVENTED THE HIV VACCINE AND CURE SINCE 2004.
MY CLAIMS HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED ALL THIS TIME BY BOTH MY GOVERNMENT AND THE UNITED
STATES GOVT FOR REASONS NOT KNOWN TO ME.
TILL DATE I HAVE TREATED OVER 50,000 PATIENTS WHOM I REQUEST THREE DIFFERENT HIV
TEST RESULTS FROM AND THEY HAVE ALL TURNED UP NEGATIVE.
I WISH TO BE OF HELP TO THE WORLD WITHOUT ANY FINANCIAL GRATIFICATION.
IF MY TREATMENT AND VACCINE CAN BE PROVEN TO BE 100% EFFECTIVE BY YOUR COUNTRY IF
DIFFERENT FROM MINE THEN I CAN MAKE MY DRUGS AVAILABLE IN COMMERCIAL QUANTITIES.
IF YOU ARE HIV POSITIVE, I CAN AS WELL MAKE MY TREATMENT AVAILABLE TO YOU.
MY TREATMENT AND VACCINES HAVE NO SIDE EFFECTS THAT MAKES IT TOLERABLE TO ALL.
LASTLY, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN MY MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH FOR PUBLIC OR PERSONAL
USE, CONTACT ME RIGHT AWAY AND BEFORE ADMINISTRATION HAVE IT TESTED BY
PHARMACOLOGISTS AND BIOCHEMISTS TO PROVE ITS NON LETHAL STATE.
I HOPE THIS IS TAKEN SERIOUSLY. I HAVE PROOF TO ALL THAT I HAVE WRITTEN ABOVE SO IF
YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST GET BACK TO ME FOR FURTHER ENLIGHTENMENT.
DR. X
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Anti-fraud resources:
