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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- bja20014@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Mr David James <rodrigoderatofigaredo47@gmail.com>
Reply-To: ggtt2014@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 09:38:04 -0700
Subject: Re: Cordial...
Dear Friend.
I am Mr David James, the Head of file Department in Sell Bonny Light
Crude Oil Ephesos Petroleum Ltd. I seek your assistance and I am
assured of your capability to champion this business opportunity, to
remit the sum of $10.5 million U S dollars into your account. If you
are interested please let me know so that i can send you the full
details of this transaction. I agree that 40% of this money will be
for you, while 10% will be set aside for all expenses incurred during
the business and 50% would be for me. If you are interested to execute
this business with me, you should contact me in my private email and
provide me the below requested information to avoid any delays, and I
will furnish you with more elaborate information. My private email
address is ( bja20014@yahoo.com ).
(1)Your Name
(2)Your age.........................
(3)Your occupation..................
(4)Your photo ID.......................
(5)Your marital status.............
(6)Your full residential address...............
(7)Your private phone and fax number
I await your prompt response.
Best regards,
Mr David James
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