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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:
- "calvary greetings" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- "remain blessed" (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: "Mrs. Dorris Egbu" <dorrisegbuu@gmail.com>
Reply-To: "Mrs. Dorris Egbu" <dorrisegbuo@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 10 May 2015 03:21:25 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Hello friend,
Calvary Greetings,
Hello friend,
I am Mrs. Dorris Egbu a citizen of United Kingdom. I am 52 years old and i am married to late Dr. Owen Egbu. I am a born again Christian and a widow. I want to make a donation of (USD$5.8 million) to help Orphans and Widows and Charitable homes in your Country and I assumed that you will be able to receive this fund and utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein.
And I am seriously ill, please always remember me in your daily prayers because I don't know when it will end with me.
If you are willing to carry on with this divine assignment then you have to reply back to me immediately for more details about this fund.
Remain blessed in the Lord.
Yours in Christ,
Mrs. Dorris Egbu.
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Anti-fraud resources:
