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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "=?ISO-8859-1?B?QWxpbmUgQ2V6YW5uZQ==?=" <alinecezanne@foxmail.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 17:05:57 +0800
Subject: Re:Please I Need Your Assistance
Dear Sir/Madam,
Good day to you and your family,
Pls I need you to help me clear a shipment that contains paintings worth of $10million and $15 in liquid cash as my fiduciary agent. Let me know if you can do this.You can contact me through this email address below "aline.cezanne@outlook.com"
Regards
Aline Cezanne
Email: aline.cezanne@outlook.com
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Anti-fraud resources: