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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 us 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)
- "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: "Mrs.Stella Tricia" <sharon.desmond333@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrsstellat5@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2015 16:45:24 +0000
Subject: Message from Mrs. Stella Tricia,
Message from Mrs. Stella Tricia,
I am Mrs. Stella Tricia, a widow suffering from long time Cancer
illness. I am currently admitted in a private hospital here. I have
some fund I inherited from my late loving husband Mr. Collins Tricia,
the sum of ($5Million US dollars) which he deposited in one of the
FINANCIAL BANKS and I need a very honest and God fearing Christian
that can use this fund for God's work. I will forward to you all the
information you will use to get this fund released and transferred
from the FINANCIAL BANKS to your own Account as soon as I receive
your message.
Hoping to receive your reply.
Mrs. Stella Tricia
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Anti-fraud resources:
