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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:
- "million united state dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Kazin Azman" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kazinazman4@rocketmail.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:24:25 +0200
Subject: Urgent Need.
Attention Sir/Madam,
My name is Mr.Kazin Azman.I am an attorney.I am in an urgent need of your assistance and co-operation to re-profile and transfer from a bank the sum of $7.8 Million United State Dollars to your account as the next of kin to a deceased client of mine who died with out a will.Since your share the same last name with him.
I will give you %40 of the total sum for your assistance once the money is transferred to your account.
I promise and give you a 100% guarantee and assurance there will never be any problem for you in this transaction.I will give you more details if I get a positive response from you.
Regards
Mr.Kazin Azman
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Anti-fraud resources:
