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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:
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "GARY HILLS" <dkrob@aol.com>
Reply-To: attorneygaryhills2@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 02:56:52 -0400
Subject: GET BACK TO ME URGENTLY
I AM GARY HILLS AN AMERICAN LAWYER.I WAS THE SOLICITOR AND ATTORNEY TO LATE=
REV.A. COLE AN AMERICAN WHO PERISHED IN THE DANA AIR CRASH ON THE 3RD OF J=
UNE 2012 IN LAGOS WITH ALL HIS FAMILY. I WAS DIRECTED BY THE AIRLINE TO PRE=
SENT A RIGHTFUL CLAIMANT FOR HIS COMPENSATION OF USD 150M OR LOOSE IT TO FR=
AUDULENT CRIMINALS IN NIGERIA. I WANT YOU TO ASSIST ME IN CLAIMING IT BY PR=
ESENTING YOU AS THE RIGHTFUL CLAIMANT AFTER WHICH WE SHALL SHARE IT AMICABL=
Y BECAUSE EVERY RELATED PERSON TO HIM DIED IN THAT ACCIDENT. I WILL GIVE YO=
U THE DETAILS IMMEDIATELY I GET YOUR RESPONSE. ATTORNEY G. HILLS JR.
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Anti-fraud resources:
