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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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- patriciamavis@yahoo.com (Yahoo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: patricia mavis <patriciamavis@att.net>
Reply-To: patriciamavis@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2011 09:57:00 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Hello
Hello dear
How are you today?my name is Patricia hope you are and fine and ok. as i
go through your profile honestly,it pleased me so much.as its, i will
like to share my personal life idea together with you although,i have
much to discussed with you if i hear from you.but have in mind that
distance does not matter in any relationship.What i see as pillar of
relationship is love, understanding and wisdom. well have a nice day as i
wait to hear from you and i will also send you my fotos for you to know
who i am ok
With love from
Patricia
Email...............( patriciamavis@yahoo.com)
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Anti-fraud resources:
