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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.
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs: Johnson" <elisabethj1955@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: elisabethj195@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:32:39 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Is me, Mrs: Johnson
My Dear
I am Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson a Switzerland citizen. I am married to late Mr.
David Johnson from Cote D’ Ivoire who died in that victim of Earthquakes in Haiti on, 12 January 2010, please I have some Funds I want you to handle for me in
God’s glory & bear in mind that this project will be carried under a
Legitimate arrangements that will protect you & my only Son, Nevertheless
Can you reply me in good manners for me to give you more Information s concerning this matter, trusting to hear from you immediately?
Thanks & May God bless
Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson.
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Anti-fraud resources:
