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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.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: "Hon. Barrister James Boudillon" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <hon.barristerjamesb@lawyer.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:50:50 +0200
Subject: A Goodwill Message
Dear sir,
I am the personal assistance and lawyer to the new President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,Dr Goodluck Jonathan.
I have specifically been mandated by his excellency to arrange for a foreign business partner for a joint business venture.
His excellency specifically want to invest into a real estate and other lucrative buiness in your country and the total sum of $300 million has been set aside for this purpose.
Please,if you are interested and capable of handling this arrangement in partnering with us kindly respond back with immediate effect and indicate your interest and capability.
Sincerely,
Hon.Barrister James Boudillon
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Anti-fraud resources:
