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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:
- "00,000.00" (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)
- 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.
- b_shawcross111@hotmail.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Bruce Shawcross <jaltamirano@diaf-ecu.com>
Reply-To: b_shawcross111@hotmail.co.uk
Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:35:28 -0600
Subject: Important Proposal...
Good Day Sir/Madam,
I am writing to solicit your sponsorship of a business
deal worth £7,700,000.00 Pounds Sterling belonging to a late customer
of my firm that made an open-ended investments with us. Concidentally
this customer shares a common last name with you and i will need you
to come forward to claim this invested sum, since there is no one
coming for its claims since the investment period elapsed over a year
ago. I will furnish you with the full details of how we can realise
this deal itch free when you get back to me. Please only get back to
me if you are interested in the deal and capable of financing its
realisation. You can get back to me if you are interested on this
email address: b_shawcross111@hotmail.co.uk .
Bruce Shawcross
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Anti-fraud resources:
