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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- 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.
- kk_sharma1251@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.K.K Sharma" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kk_sharma1251@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:45:24 -0800
Subject: Re:Good day from Mr.K.K.Sharma(Business proposal to you)
Dear Friend,
I am Mr.K.K.Sharma from india and I have a business for you, can you establish the eligibility of standing as a beneficiary to my funds to enable me pull it out from my bank , your share
will be 40%, if you are interested do contact me for more details on this email: kk_sharma1251@hotmail.com please note that it is not a stolen fund so it is 100% risk free I will wait for your response before sending you the complete details on how we are to proceed further.
I want to say thanks for your time I look forward in reading from you soonest.
Mr.K.K.Sharma.
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Anti-fraud resources:
