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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: "Mr John Newman" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnnewman@fastwebmail.it>
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 08:54:11 -0500
Subject: Re: GOODNEWS REGARDING YOUR FUND,VERY URGENT.
Hello
Good-News i have found a friend of mine who is willy to assist us with the full given amount of money to obtain the required Documentations to get your Funds delivered/wired to you. but we will have to give him 5% of your Funds when it has be delivered at your Residence,So if you agreed to my friend's condition get back to me immediately so that i can inform my friend that you have accepted and also inform me on which banking institution you operate with so that i can inform him as he requested,and also i will advise that you quit sending any upfront payment/charges to get your funds wired or delivered to you,because you don't need to send money out of your pocket to get your funds.
Note: Do not send me your banking personal details,i only asked on what banking institution you operate with.
Thank You
Mr John Newman
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Anti-fraud resources:
