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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found 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: Vals Alain <alain.vals@ac-aix-marseille.fr>
Reply-To: pasfredwaldron@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 07:35:37 -0500
Subject: Contact my Pastor
Dear Friend
Greetings to You. My name is Mrs. Linda Ross . I am 62 years old and I
was diagnosed for cancer for about 2 years ago. I will be going in for an
operation later today.I decided to WILL/donate the sum of (Fourteen
Millions Two Hundred Fifty Thousand United States Dollars) to you
for the good work of the lord.
Contact my Pastor with this email; pas.fred1@mspil.edu.cn
Name: Pastor Fred Waldron Phelps
Tell him that I have WILLED 14.250M to you by quoting my personal
reference number LLP/953/900//316US/IN.
God Bless
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Anti-fraud resources:
