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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:
- "may come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Noah Smith Esq." <nnamdiemeka@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: "Noah Smith Esq." <noahsmithxx11@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2015 23:33:51 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Good Day,
Good Day,
I am Mr. Noah Smith Esq. I practice law here in the UK, kindly permit me to use your name to apply as the next of kin to my late client who died without a will and have no next of kin or relative introduced to me before his sudden death SINCE YOU BEAR SAME LAST NAME WITH HIM, this mail may come to you as a surprise but if you will partner with me we stand to shear $1.8m in days. I wait o read from you.Regards,Noah Smith Esq.
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Anti-fraud resources:
