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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:
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Desmond Wilson <johndugglass50@gmail.com>
Reply-To: desmondwilson171@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2021 19:46:29 +0200
Subject: Hello
--
Hello,
I am a product sourcing manager in an export company here in my country.
I have a very profitable business I would like your company to handle
and execute on a partnership basis.
There is this client of mine who is a wealthy cattle farmer here in my country.
The farmer (Alhaji) is the owner and CEO of a very big cattle farm
here in my country.
He also owns cattle farms in many other countries in West Africa.
My client is in urgent need of a certain important cattle vaccine for
his cattle.
He is presently in need of more than 3500 cartons of this important
vaccine and he is ready to make an upfront payment of
70% of his total order from him to your
company and pay the balance 30% payment when the shipment is ready.
We will get the vaccine from Europe at a price of USD575 per carton of
12 bottles and supply to the farmer at USD1250.
If your company can handle the supplies, do inform me so that I can
provide you with full details of the contract and go ahead to link you
up with Alhaji so
that you can discuss with him directly.
I assure you that we are going to make a huge profit from the supplies.
This contract is 100% risk free and guaranteed returns.
With regards.
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Anti-fraud resources:
