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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:
- "nortonfinanceloan@msn.com" (This email address looks like addresses used in fake loan scams. Be suspicious of any lender who uses a free webmail address or who is based in different country from yourself.)
- "nortonfinanceloan@msn.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Norton Finance Loan Company <tipsco@wananchi.com>
Reply-To: nortonfinanceloan@msn.com
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 00:58:25 +0300 (EAT)
Subject: Loan Opportunity!!!
This is is a Finance Lending Firm, We offer loans ranging from personal to industrial loans to interested persons and companies who are seeking financial assistance or growth.We offer large and small amounts of Loans to our clients. We offer our Loans to our clients in the following categories. Auto Loans Mortgage loans Business Loans Personal Loans Real Estate Loan. Contact us for more information with the Contact below, Loan Agent: James Colins Email: nortonfinanceloan@msn.com  Thank you for your response. Yours Faithfully, James Colins
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Anti-fraud resources:
