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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:
- "loan amount" (Beware of fake loan offers. Real lenders would not normally use free webmail addresses such as Yahoo, nor would they lend to individuals or small businesses in a different country from where they are based. Beware of mobile phones or redirector numbers!)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Bradley Wick <info@mityanamc.go.ug>
Reply-To: <giidp955@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2023 01:12:48 -0700
Subject: Hello Good Day,
INVESTMENT PROPOSAL
Greetings, I am Sir Bradley Wick, a Financial Consultant. I represent interests from the Middle East who have huge funds to advance as loans with minimal interest and also for investments. Do reply if you have the interest in investment and capacity to manage investments wholly or you need a loan to expand your existing business. kindly include in your reply:
a. Full name/Company name
b. Designation
c. Personal telephone contacts
d. Business plan/summary
e. Indicate if you need a loan or you want partnership investment.
f. Needed Loan Amount.
Bradley Wick
North London.
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Anti-fraud resources:
