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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: Jefferson Cumberbatch <jeflaw75@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Jefferson Cumberbatch <jefflaw75@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 08:56:43 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Urgent
Hello,
I'm sorry for this odd request because it might get to you too urgent but it's because of the situation of things right now. I'm Stuck in Odessa Ukraine right now with my family, the authorities are not being 100% supportive and we might just still be stuck here. Please we need help to settle our bills, reprint ticket and reschedule date, I promise to reimburse you right as soon we arrive home safely
Thanks in advance
Jeff and the family
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Anti-fraud resources:
