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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: Doris Aburey <ogelove2010@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: dorris.aburey@yahoo.dk
Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:55:04 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Hello My dear.
Hello My dear.
How are you doing today and how is everything over there together with your health? i hope that you are in good condition of health, i want to use this opportunity to introduce myself to you. My name is miss Doris i know you maybe surprise on how i got your email address. it is God plan to us. i got your mail today when i was browsing searching for a good friend. so i decide to drop these few line of massage to you. please i will like you to contact me direct to my email address so that i will show you mail photo and tell you everything about me and i will also like to know more about you. thanks for your understand and i will be hoping to hear from you soon.
Yours Doris.
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Anti-fraud resources:
