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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: "Mrs. Linda Henrik" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <lindahenrik2@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 10:39:50 -0500
Subject: GOOD BUSINESS FOR YOU, PLEASE WORK WITH ME
Good day.
I am Mrs. Linda Henrik an accountant by profession, and acts as a private consultant to some clients in Africa ranging from top Politicians and top Government functionaries whose privacy is shrouded in topmost secrecy.
As stated above I have client's mandate to seek for a reputable and well-established individual to help him channel some funds into profitable investment abroad.
The proposed funds are an estimated ($35 million) and the fund is with a private financial firm in Asia at the moment, he's specific in investing these funds outside the Africa region because of his current case with his country's government.
If you are interested, you should send your direct phone number so we could discuss more on phone as regard the transaction.
I hope you will treat my request with expediency as time is of great importance to my client. Waiting to hear from you immediately. I and my family are on vacation here in Malaysia.
Thank You,
Mrs. Linda Henrik
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Anti-fraud resources:
