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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:
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.B Madikiza" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <contact@ukadvisors.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2011 19:49:01 +0100
Subject: Re : I want to put your name
Hi
I am Mr.B Madikiza General Manager Old Mutual Insurance; I want to put your name as a next of Kin/ Business partner,
to help claim US$5.3M Unclaimed Life Insurance Fund. Belonging to one of our late client.
Since it is not compulsory that the Next-of-Kin must be a blood relation to the deceased, but could be anybody. If
my offer is of no appeal to you, delete this message and forget I ever contacted you. If you give me positive signals.
Send your
FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
TEL:
FAX
MOBILE
COUNTRY:
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
Finally I will furnish you with more details as soon as you get back to me and let you know the % we will be giving
to you for your help.
Thanks and Waiting In anxious for your prompt response and Be rest assured that this deal is 100% risk free.
Mr.B Madikiza
Executive General Manager
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Anti-fraud resources:
