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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Oceanic Loan Firm" <info@loan.com>
Reply-To: oceanicloanfirm@yahoo.cn
Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2012 19:26:25 -0200
Subject: I am Mr Ferry Hilton the advertising agent of (Oceanic Loan firm).This company is a registered loan company that give out fund to those who need financial support in their businesses or other activities. Our offer is with a very low interest rate. For one to apply he/she must be above the age of 18.You have to take advantage of this as preference will be given to first seven applicant. All interested persons should contact us Via Email: oceanicloanfirm@yahoo.cn
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Anti-fraud resources:
