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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- apiajames1@hotmail.com (Hotmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: James Apia <eliasappiah100@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: apiajames1@hotmail.com
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:24:07 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Urgent Reply PlEASE.
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please Can you furnish us in full details about the standard of your
product. We will appreciate it more if you can give us with detail
specification/price lists to avoid making a wrong choice of product.
I am a government accredited commission Agent and we are looking for
manufacturers whose product is of good quality. We need different kinds of
Product and you can reach us for effective and efficient business via:
Thanks for your anticipated response.contact me through my business ID:
apiajames1@hotmail.com for fast attention.
Thanks,
Mr.James Apia
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Anti-fraud resources:
