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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: "Walid al-Ahmar" <waalmar@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: waalmar@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 03:39:38 -0600
Subject: VERY URGENT
Attn.
I’m the personal assistant to his Excellency Muhammad Nidal al-SHA'AR former minister of Economy and Trade in Syria. I have been instructed by his excellency to seek your cooperation in a matter that requires an individual with a high sense of probity and discretion. This is for the purpose of moving funds into a secured bank account free of any lien, blockage and direct relations to his excellency. Should you agree to accept this responsibility, you shall reap great financial reward for your assistance in this matter.
It is needless for me to restate that the situation in Syria is precarious and deteriorates by the day. Kindly reply to state your willingness or otherwise to work with us, whereupon more information or not shall be given.
Thanks in advance for your diligence.
Sincerely,
Walid al-Ahmar
Assistant to The Minister of Trade & Economy
Damascus, Syria
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Anti-fraud resources:
