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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Sergei Kukura <545433@mon12.onmicrosoft.com>
Reply-To: <kukura60@mail.ru>
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2015 12:55:17 -0500
Subject: Business Proposition
Your Attention,
Please allow me to crave your indulgence and share a business proposition with you.
I am Sergei kukura, I am the Director heading the accounting department of the Lukoil Oil & Gas Company Russia. Yearly we receive returned investment dividend warrants issued by our company to shareholders and investors. These warrants have accumulated to very substantial value.
Some of these warrants bear the same name with you. I propose with your active cooperation to file for re-issue of these warrants in your name.
Please confirm your interest or participation by responding to this email with your contact details. These information will enable file for the re-issue in your name.
I will put more information at your disposal upon the receipt of your email.
Thank you.
Sergei Kukura
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Anti-fraud resources:
