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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: marry <lilian_awa@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: marrygodwill@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:24:04 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Good Day My Dear
Good Day
My Dear
Hi!
I am Miss Mary how are you! hope you are fine and in perfect condition
of health, my dear i hope that every things is OK for you and your
family over there and i hope that every body that they are OK in good
condition of health well
my dear, I went through your profile today
where i am browsing on internet today and i read it and took interest in
it,if you don't mind i will like you to write me back in here
Hoping
to hear from you soon, I will be waiting for your mail so that i will
send you my my pics in my next mail OK i really needs us to be friends
if you like to be my friend, from yours new friend with Lots of love
Mary
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Anti-fraud resources:
