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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Usman Abudul <usman_abudul1@aol.fr>
Reply-To: usmanabudul10@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 07:15:43 +0000
Subject: WAITING YOUR RESPONSE
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Dear Friend,
Greetings to you and your family.
My name is Mr Usman Abudul, I am a banker by profession here in my country
and currently holding the post of regional foreign bank manager. I have a
business proposal of Fifteen Millions, United States Dollars
(US$15.000,000.00) for transferring into your care for our mutual benefits,
so i need your assistance with 100% cooperation to realize this task. if
you agree to my business proposal.
Further details of the transfer will be forwarded to you as soon as i
receive your return mail.
Waiting to hear from you.
Mr Usman Abudul.
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Anti-fraud resources:
