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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Ulla Wrede <ullawrede49@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Ulla Wrede <info.wrede@yahoo.se>
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2015 02:07:10 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Very Urgent
My name is Madam Ulla Wrede 56 years old Swedish. I am currently
admitted in the hospital for a treatment of a brain tumor which I have
been suffering for 8 years now. In fact I am contacting you because I
want to make a humanitarian gesture to the location of all sensitive
souls. My late husband and I had mobilized a small fortune that we want
to invest in humanitarian works. But considering my health condition
now, I can no longer fulfill this project by myself. I want you to
complete this project on my behalf. I am contacting you after my few
daily prayers with believing that you are God's chosen one to complete
this project in good faith. For a favorable opinion, please get back to
me for more information because I may not be able to visit anymore.
Be blessed in the name of our Lord.
Ulla
Wrede
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Anti-fraud resources:
