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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Jessica Williams <jessywilliams7@att.net>
Reply-To: jessicawiliiams@rocketmail.com
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:45:41 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: hi
Hello my dear,
How are you today and how is life moving over there? i hope fine. I pick interest in your profile in this very site and decided to know you more. meting new friend is a way of building a new relationship of love and feelings in life. two people in love can handle a relationship, not about the age or distance but just the feelings and affection. my profile is not enough in this sit, with all pleasures,you can easily reach me in my email address for my pictures and details.
yours new friend
Jessica.
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Anti-fraud resources:
