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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 next of kin scam.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- 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.
- jerrybell001@hotmail.com (Hotmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Jerry Bell " <pinwinsp@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: jerrybell001@hotmail.com
Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 01:09:36 +0800
Subject: Attn: Your Urgency Is anticipated;
Hello,
Sorry to contact you through this medium as I know that the Internet have been greatly abused and so many scams been perpetrated nowadays. I am Jerry Bell, a UK based attorney and a personal attorney to a great industrialist who passed away without a neither written nor oral WILL, which is the reason why I am contacting you because my late client bears the same last name as you.
I want to seize this opportunity to seek your assistance to present you as the Next of Kin so that the deceased estate will be released to us. Your urgent response is anticipated.
Jerry Bell
Email: jerrybell001@hotmail.com
phone: +447509758860
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Anti-fraud resources:
