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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "creditclearanceloan@gmail.com" (This email address looks like addresses used in fake loan scams. Be suspicious of any lender who uses a free webmail address or who is based in different country from yourself.)
- 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.
- creditclearanceloan@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: CREDITS CLEARANCE <web.offi1@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: CREDITS CLEARANCE <creditclearanceloan@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2015 17:21:43 +0000 (UTC)
Subject:
 Dear Sir/Madam.
Are you desperately in need of a loan help? Have you be denied of a loan from your bank or any financial firm? Do you need financial assistance? Do you need a loan to pay off your bills or buy a home? Do you want to have a business of your own and you need financial loan help? Contact us today for your financial loan help. We are willing to help you out on either business or personal loan or any kinds of loans. Offer are available e-mail us now on: creditclearanceloan@gmail.com Thanks for your Consideration/Patronage.We await your swift reply, Kind regards.
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Anti-fraud resources:
