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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:
- "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Barr. David Smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <davidsmith320@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 11:58:41 -0000
Subject: Good Day
Good Day,
My name is Barr. David Smith, from Lome-Togo here in West Africa I
have emailed you earlier without a response. In my first email I
mentioned about my late client whose relatives I cannot get in touch
with. But both of you have the same last name so it will be very
easy to make you become his official next of kin. I am compelled to
do this because I would not want the bank to push my clients funds
into the bank treasury as unclaimed inheritance. If you are interested you do let me know.
Yours faithfully,
Barr. David Smith.
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Anti-fraud resources:
