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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- 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: "DR HARUNA ISA" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <harumod2@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:24:49 -0800
Subject: VERY URGENT
Dear friend,
I am Dr Haruna Isa,currently serving as a top civil servant in ministry
of finance under the current adminstrantion of the president of
Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan.I am writing to see if you can assist me in
securing a property in your country where i will relocate my
family.Real estate.Kindly get back
to me as soon as possible.Contact me through my private email address
harunaisa@mail.bg or harumod2@gmail.com.Note i was giving your contact
by a friend who confineded in me about your confidentiality and
credibility.you can also contact
through my phone +2348191534823
Dr HARUNA ISA
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Anti-fraud resources:
