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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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Catharinebills <bethcaitlin@btinternet.com>
Reply-To: catharinebills@sify.com
Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:20:35 +0100 (BST)
Subject: read
Hello
I am Catharine bills i live in Paper Marchant Industry ,a subsidiary of
Paper Industry 3412 OLD Trafford Road Manchester City and i got your
contact on my personal search of the person i want to will my money
to.Please i willed the remaining money in my account to you,that is the
only money left in my account right now. Some thing in me told me that
you are the right person that can execute this dream for me before i will
pass away,
please contact the bank manager whose name and address i will give you
as soon as you reply this mail.My bank will help you transfer this money
that i have willed to you. Right now i am in the hospital emailing you with
my lap top computer and i will tell you my story as
soon as i hear from you.
Thank you for your understanding.
God Bless you.
Catharine bills Beth
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Anti-fraud resources:
