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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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)
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "consignment " (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)
- "million dollars" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- martijnvanboomer@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Martijn Van Boomer" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <martijnvanboomer@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2017 19:36:12 +0200
Subject: from martijn
Dear sir/madam,
I am Sorry for intruding your privacy without your knowledge, is due to my curiosity to reach you with this news of mine. I have a transaction that will need your urgent trustworthy help. My name is Martijn Van Bloomer, I work with SeaGate Security BV in the Netherlands, I have in my custody a consignment that belong to a client Mr. Gabriel Amisi Gumba an army general to the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this consignment contain a worth of 20.million dollars (Twenty million Dollars in cash). I will like you to stand as the beneficiary to this consignment if you will be interested . We shall have a share ration of 60/40; I will provide all the neccesary informations to make you the beneficiary upon hearing from you, you can reply me on my private email; martijnvanboomer@gmail.com
Your quick respond will be appreciated as I wait for your responds.
Kind regards,
Martijn V.B
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Anti-fraud resources:
