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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:
- "million united states dollars" (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)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "abubakar ali." <hoki0207@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: "abubakar ali." <abubakar_ali@consultant.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 21:04:28 +0900 (JST)
Subject: General ABUBAKAR ALI from Libya;
Hello
my name is General ABUBAKAR ALI from Libya; I am one
of late Gadhafi\'s
special guards, please I need your Urgent assistance
to receive the sum
of $17.4 million United States Dollars for safe
keeping and investment
on my behalf.
Upon the receipt of your response; I will give you
full details on how
the shipment will be executed and also note that you
will have 40% of
the above mentioned sum while 50% will be for me and
10% for any
expenses that might arise along the line of the
transaction.
If you agree to handle this business with me then I
will be expecting your
urgent reply to this email:
With your complete contact information.
Regards,
General ABUBAKAR ALI.
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Anti-fraud resources:
