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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million united states dollars" (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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "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.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "SENATOR FAROUK LAWAL"
<lfarouk@ymail.com>
Date: 19 Jun 2015 22:56:35 +0100
Subject: ATTN: THE MANAGING DIRECTOR / PRESIDENT
Attention: Please,
My name is Senator Farouk Lawal, the Presidential Adviser on Petroleum Matters. I am contacting you to know if you can transact a business with me.
In 2014 I and some executive members in the Petroleum Ministry inflated a contract to the sum of US$32,000,000.00 (Thirty-Two Million United States Dollars) for our personl use and we wish to transfer the above mentioned to your account for safe investment under your care.
If you are interested, kindly get back to me with your full contact and company information for more details.
Senator Farouk Lawal.Tel: +234 810 406 8655.
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Anti-fraud resources:
