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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: "Michael Wrede" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mcwred@blumail.org>
Date: Thu, 5 May 2011 14:47:46 +0100
Subject: I need your help
Hello dear,
Please pardon my mode of contacting you.My name is Michael Wrede an audit manager with Credit Suisse Bank London.I got your details in my search for a foreigner to stand in as a holder of an account which i registered without a beneficiary.This fund valued at GBP4.9M was stashed out of the excess profit made two years ago by my branch.
I have already submitted an approved end of the year report for the year 2009 and my bank will never know of this excess.With my position,I can configure your name in our database as a holder of this account and guide you on how to apply for claim.If you concur with this proposal which will be of immense help to the both of us,Kindly forward your response to enable me start the process.I intend you to keep 50% of the funds while 50% shall be for me after the transaction.
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Anti-fraud resources:
