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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)
- "remain blessed" (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.
Fraud email example:
From: "REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:36:32 -0800
Subject: WE NEED CONFIRMATION FROM YOU
Dear Friend,
Greeting to you in the name of the lord,
I want to know if you still dead or alive,because some people came to our office today telling us that you no longer exist,so they are here to receive your fund worth *(2.5 million) that has been issued in a bank draft on your behalf and ready to pay the delivery fee so we are writing to you now to confirm if you are still Exist or not before we can take any decision.
RECONFIRM TO US THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION'S
FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
PRIVATE NUMBER:
OCCUPATION:
A SCANNED COPY OF YOUR DRIVING LICENSE
Note: That at this stage if you are still available we would want you to be in fast contact with us.
Remain blessed,
Pastor Morgan
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Anti-fraud resources:
