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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447012932044 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mr.richardmeadows@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Richard Meadows" <mr.richardmeadows@outlook.com>
Reply-To: mr.richardmeadows@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 11:02:57 -0400
Subject: From Mr.Richard Meadows
Dear Sir/Madam,
My Name is Mr.Richard Meadows, i will like to invest in your
country/company, but I don't know anybody that will help me when I
come over there that is my reason of contacting you to know if you
will be of assistance to me.
I have $50M dollars to invest in any profitable business in your
country/company. The money is right now in Europe. If you can handle
this transaction then let me know so that we shall plan how to meet
ourselves first face to face to work out modalities.
Get back to me if your are interested.
Best regards,
Mr.Richard Meadows.
E-mail :mr.richardmeadows@yahoo.co.uk
Phone number:+447012932044
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Anti-fraud resources:
