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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.John England Jr." (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:14:03 +0400
Subject: I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE.
I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE.
Dear Friend,
Permit me to approach you in this manner. I am John England a US contractor working with Non combatant US Marine in Ba'qubah, Iraq. We have the sum of $5.5 million we made from some Crude Oil deal that we want you to help us to receive. Since we are working here on Official capacity we cannot keep this fund with us and this is my sole reason of contacting you. If you are interested and can receive this fund in your capacity, do get back to me so that i can give you further details on how you can receive the fund on my behalf.
Regards
John England.
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Anti-fraud resources:
