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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:
- "i will like you to " (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: camella west <camellawest05@att.net>
Reply-To: camellawest1012@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 15:54:28 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Hi Dear One
Hi Dear One
Greetings & Nice to meet you
how are you today i hope that you are doing fine as i am feeling alright
also my name is Camella west l am searching for a real friend that is
trust and worthy and caring.a friend who understand the real meaning of
love and trust in each other a mature partner that will be faithful to
me and will understand that
a real love dose not count distance or colour after reading your when i
was browsing email in the internet i feeling a great joy in my heart
withing me . i took interest on you despite that i have not seen you in
person but your profiles really gave me a nice pleasure to communicate
edith you. and I hope you will be the true loving, honest partner that I
have been looking for, And I have something special to tell you about
me please i will like you to reply to me urgently so i will tell you
more about my self this is my box above please try to mail me back
so that i can be able to send you my pictures,God bless you.
I am waiting to hear from you soon
With Loves & Regards
Miss Camella.
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Anti-fraud resources:
