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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:
- "with your full names" (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: Komanu Philippe <robertodikko2@gmail.com>
Reply-To: philippekomanu00000@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2016 12:35:59 +0000
Subject: Greetings,
Hello,
My name is Komanu Philippe a citizen of the Central African Republic
(CAR) I reside in Togo as a result of intense and deadly political war
in my country. I am urgently in need of a trustworthy individual to
assist me in a profitable venture concerning a considerable quantity
of AU Gold Metal (260 Kg) of excellent grade and a sum of 5.2M USD.
Also on the agenda would be to assist me to obtain refugee asylum
status there in your country.
Kindly email me with your Full names, Age, Occupation, Country of
residence & Telephone number for more details respective this proposal
for a negotiable profit towards the disposal of the AU Metal proposal.
Sincerely
Komanu Philippe
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Anti-fraud resources:
