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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)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "J.E" <j_20r@fr.net>
Reply-To: "J.E" <evejamal@aim.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 23:06:11 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Greetings May the Good God bless you and your family.
MY Dear Friend,
Good Day I hope today finds you well. I am Ms.Eve Jamal. an aging widow suffering from long time illness. i
am currently admitted in a privet hospital, I have some funds I
inherited from my late loving husband Mr.Asif Jamal, the sum of (US
$3.500.000) Three Million, Five Hundred thousand Dollars which he
deposited in my name Here and I don't have any child that will inherit this
money from me so i need a very honest and God fearing One that can use
this funds for God's work.and 15% out of the total funds will be for
your compensation for doing this work of God.
Please do not be
dismay and wonder how I got your contact I believe it was by the
direction of God whom by his grace lead me to you. I found your email
address from the internet and decided to contact you. Please if you
would be able to use this funds
for God work kindly get back to me so that I will give you more details,
I will want you to send me your information's such as below:
1. Full Name:
2. Address:
3. Telephone Numbers:
Your Sister Eve Jamal.
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Anti-fraud resources:
