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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "loan amount" (Beware of fake loan offers. Real lenders would not normally use free webmail addresses such as Yahoo, nor would they lend to individuals or small businesses in a different country from where they are based. Beware of mobile phones or redirector numbers!)
- "your loan " (Beware of fake loan offers. Real lenders would not normally use free webmail addresses such as Yahoo, nor would they lend to individuals or small businesses in a different country from where they are based. Beware of mobile phones or redirector numbers!)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- james.financialinvestment@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "James Financial Invst." <info@yahoo.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: james.financialinvestment@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:55:06 -0800
Subject: Loan Offer
Hello Sir/ Madam,
I am Mr James Smith A Financial Loan Firm registered and licensed by
ministry of finance I am a money lender i give out loan to all in need of
help. Are you looking for money to pay bills? Are you looking for money for an
investment?I want you to know that i can help you with any type of loan at 3%
interest rate. Any interested applicant should please respond to my
private.mail address: james.financialinvestment@gmail.com with the amount that
you needed as a
loan and the loan duration so that we can proceed further okay.The loan
amount to be seeked for ranges the rate from $1,000USD up to $7,000,000USD
If interested contact us with the following details
via email below:
FIRST INFORMATION NEEDED:
Full Name:...............................
Location:.................................
Sex......................................
Marital status:...........................
Country...................................
Phone/Fax:.............................
Amount Needed:.............................
Contact E-mail:...........................
Occupation:..............................
Purpose Of Loan........................
Loan Duration ...........................
Monthly Income ...........................
Scanned Copy Of ID ...........................
Also i will like to know if you are serious minded about getting this loan
from my company, because we only deal with serious minded and God fearing
person who have good means of paying back the loan.
Contact me via this email for your loan application. Email:
james.financialinvestment@gmail.com
Loan Director: Mr James Smith
JAMES LOAN FIRM
Email: james.financialinvestment@gmail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
