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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:
- "please indicate your interest" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Paul Ndewe <paulndewe@gmail.com>
Reply-To: paulnndewe@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2015 01:46:00 +0800
Subject: INVESTMENT PROPOSAL
Good day,
My name is Mr. Paul Ndewe a special adviser to the Governor in one of
the big Oil producing State here in Nigeria. I don't want to disclose
the State here in the Internet for Security reasons.
My Boss mandated me to contact whoever that is capable of handling this
project, he really wants to invest outside Nigeria for security reason
and for the future of his family because of crisis in Nigeria today.
We need urgent attention if you are interested in this investment proposal.
And i really want to know when we can meet in any Country of your choice for
us to have a concrete agreement of this Investment. Please indicate your
interest so that i will details you more about this investment.
I await your urgent reply.
Mr. Paul Ndewe
Special Adviser to the Governor
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Anti-fraud resources:
