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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:
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Graham Dickens" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <g.dickens6@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:04:11 +0100
Subject: VITAL INFORMATION.
Dear Sir,
Greetings to you and kindly pardon my disposition as I know how unsafe nature of the internet but I am compelled to use this avenue to contact you due to the nature of this project.,
However I am a project coordinator with Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) and I have access to very vital information that can be used to transfer a huge amount of money from the GAUTRAIN project account to a secured account.
I need a trustworthy seasoned businessperson to work with me as the foreign partner in the actualization of this project which will be of mutual benefit to both parties.
Full details /modalities will be disclosed on your expression of Interest to partner with me.
Thanks for your anticipated corporation.
Regards,
Graham Dickens
Project Cordinator
Passenger Rails Agency of South Africa
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Anti-fraud resources:
