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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: gregkofi@in.com
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:21:26 +0100
Subject: REWARD
Hello,
I am Dr.Greg Kofi from Ghana,I am sorry if I have bumped into your
privacy because we have not met before.I have found myself in a
situation that has made me to contact you in this manner. I have a
propsal that involves funds that I will want to entrust in your hands
for investment if we can come to agreement on the issue and if you can
prove to me that you can be trusted.
Kindly respond to this mail if you will be able to accept funds placed
in deposit with a Safe deposit treasury under a descreet arrangement
in Cairo Egypt.There is a financial benefit attached to it for you if
we can come to agreement.send your name and direct telephone number to
enable me call you.
I will give you the details if I hear from.
Regards
Dr.Greg
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Anti-fraud resources:
