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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: BRUNO LUCAS <brunolucas620@gmail.com>
Reply-To: brunolucas620@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2014 05:33:42 -0700
Subject: investments purposes.
--
Dear Friend,
I am Engr. Bruno Lucas a petrochemical/oil exploration engineer
engaged on contract with Kosmos Energy a path finding oil and gas
exploration and production company focused on frontier and emerging
areas along the Atlantic Margin. We are oil finders, driven to unlock
significant new petroleum systems, and to grow and mature discovered
hydrocarbon basins through additional exploration success, as well as
development and production.
Can you assist me and two other colleagues to "SECURING AND INVESTING"
some funds ($15.7m) raised from sale of crude oil and gas? Get back to
me for more details.
Waiting for your response.
Now my questions are:-
1 Can you handle this project?..............................
2 Your full name............................................
3 Your direct personal mobile number.........................
4 Private email address......................................
5 profession/occupation......................................
If you cannot handle this project, kindly delete immediately.
Engr. Bruno Lucas.
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Anti-fraud resources:
