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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: "Mrs Linda Greezer" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrssgreezer@live.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 03:21:53 -0700
Subject: Re: Please Assist Me
Dear,
I bring greetings to you in the name of Almighty. I dont want you to take this letter as a spam mail or fraud attempt. My name is Linda Greezer and seriously suffering from Cancer after the death of my husband Thomas Greezer. I have three children, two boys and a girl.
I want to invest the sum of $15.5M in your country which my husband left behind, I need a trusted reliable person to handle this for me and my family which my spirit has accepted you. Please do not betray this trust. As soon as you are in possession of this fund, we will discuss the best investment to invest the money, then I will come over to meet with you for proper medication and secure the future of my children.
I will give you details immediately I get your response.
Thanks and God bless
Mrs Linda Greezer
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Anti-fraud resources:
