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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: "Karen Shaw" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <karenshaw60@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 17:52:15 +0100
Subject: I Will Help You...
I AM VERY SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCES, THAT THIS HELP MIGHT CAUSE YOU ANYWAY. TO CONTACT YOU WITH GOOD FAITH TO HELP YOU. IT IS MY PLEASURE TO CONTACT YOU, ALTHOUGH I HAVE NOT MET YOU BEFORE, BUT I WANT YOU TO CONSIDER IT AS THE WILL OF LIFE AND ALSO A PRIVILEGED TO CONTACT YOU.
MY NAME IS KAREN SHAW I LIVE IN CITY OF LONDON QUEEN VICTORIA STREET. I LOST MY HUSBAND AND THREE KIDS THROUGH FATAL ACCIDENT SINCE THEN I AM A BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN. HOWEVER, I HAVE A LOT OF MONEY TO HELP THE POOR AND THE NEEDY.
IF YOU NEED HELP PLEASE CONTACT ME ASAP AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU
KAREN SHAW
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Anti-fraud resources:
