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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:
- "million united state dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "chambers" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mega" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <d.lucas88@aim.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2015 09:48:36 +0200
Subject: Your Donation!!
Dear beneficiary,
My name is Harold Diamond, I won three hundred and twentysix million United State dollars. My wife and I have commenced our 2015 summer Donation and Grant as we have
voluntarily decided to donate the sum of one million United State dollars to you and five(5) other families each as part of our own charity project to improve the lot
of 5 unknown lucky individuals all over the world plus family and give back to the local communities.
You can verify this by visiting the web pages below.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/01/13/retired-principal-wins-326-million-jackpot-in-new-york/21682481/
Your email address was luckily selected and submitted to my wife and I by the United Nations Charity Foundation and you received this email because we accepted you as
a lucky beneficiary.
Kindly contact Barrister Davido Lucas (Zenit Chambers) with Code: NYMJ6814 and also fill the below information and return via email so that he can process your funds
for disbursement.
1) Your Full Names:
2)Resident Address:
3)Telephone Number:
Good luck,
Harold Diamond.
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https://www.avast.com/antivirus
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Anti-fraud resources:
