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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:
- "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: Silvia Nkem <silviaankem@gmail.com>
Reply-To: silviankem1@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2015 20:37:12 +0800
Subject: URGENT ATTENTION
Good Day,
My name is Silvia Nkem 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 i don't need
anybody who will betray the trust my Boss have for me in life. Kindly get
back to me if you are interested.
I await your urgent reply
Regards
Silvia Nkem
Special Adviser to the Governor
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Anti-fraud resources:
