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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:
- "trunk box" (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)
- "trunk boxes" (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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <michealcollins@y7mail.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:19:39 -0700
Subject: GOOD OFFER..............
Dear Prospective Partner,
The sum of US$23.7million in Cash was concealed in a Two (2) Trunk Boxes and
at present in our Vault Room with description content as Family Valuables and
materials. My confidential investigations exposed that the recipient of this
$23.7million died 6 years ago without leaving any Inheritance Claims
Authorization to our Security Company. On this note, I would like to partner
with you to claim these funds with a sharing Ratio of 50:50 should this offer
interest you. However, there is no legal implication attached on these
arrangements. Your direct phone number needed so that as soon as we
Discuss on phone finish I will send Full Details of this offer upon receipt of your
optimistic response to the above Subject Matter.
Thank you.
Yours Respectfully,
Mr. Michael Collins
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Anti-fraud resources:
