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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:
- "trunk box" (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)
- "diplomatic courier" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Capt. Irvin Shawn" <abamba259@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Capt. Irvin Shawn" <irvinshawn1973@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2015 02:57:28 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Good day... Please reply me ASAP
Good day.
I am Capt. Irvin Shawn, a Captain in the American Army, presently in Iraq
among peace keeping force. During one of our numerous raids of ISIS Terrorists
hide out in Iraq and Syria, which was also where they kept their funds and valuables, I successfully smuggled out a black metallic trunk box containing $10
million, which I have moved out of of here through a diplomatic channel. The funds were discretely concealed in the said box and labeled as a diplomatic luggage containing diplomatic documents.
The funds is presently in the custody of a Diplomatic Courier company in Europe which is about
to shut down operation. I want to move the funds finally to a safe bank
account through a reliable partner that is why i am contacting you. I am contacting you with confidence as
all arrangements for the successful delivery has been put in place. All I need from you is to receive the cargo at your location. I am expecting your positive reply so as to extend more confidential details to you. I hope I can trust you.Kindly reply me
Capt. Irvin Shawn
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Anti-fraud resources:
