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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "my names are " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr John Owonla" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <drjohnowonla@mail.com.tr>
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2015 02:51:53 +0200
Subject: URGENT REPLY NEEDED
Dear Sir/Madam,Re.
It is of great opportunity to write you this letter and i hope that i this will not make you to be curioused and also hope that i find
myself with an eligible and abled personality?
My names are Dr John Owonla Director (Contract Award and Procurement Committee)Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC),i am
contacting you regarding a very good financial/financial opportunity which will be very rewarding for the both of us,the information about
this financial transaction is highly classified and, i wish to know if you can be trusted with the information with absolute confidentilaity.
Kindly keep me intimated for full information of the transaction for it requires a matured minded person and i thank you for your prompt
reply of this mail.
Best regards,
Dr John Owonla
email: johnowonla@mail.com.tr
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Anti-fraud resources:
