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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: "Mr. Kola Williams." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <pproject4us3@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 03:37:53 +0100
Subject: Thanks for anticipate cooperation.
Dear,
My Name is Kola Williams Personal Bodyguard to Late Umar Musa Yar'Adua, the late President of Federal Republic of Nigerian and Former Governor of Katsina State Umaru Yar'Adua.
I intend to invest in Real Estate and Factory in any country with good management of which I believe you can handle it on my behalf. I need your honesty and your capability that you will help me to invest this money in a suitable place that can be profitable for us or in your organization which I think will also be better for us.
Kindly update me if you can represent my interest or if there is any other lucrative Business in the area related to your field, do not delay in responding to my proposition.
Thanks for anticipate cooperation.
Best Regards,
Kola Williams.
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Anti-fraud resources:
