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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: "Collins A. Song" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <collinssong44@yahoo.it>
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2015 07:23:35 -0400
Subject: Syria Offer US$137 Million for you
Syria Offer US$137 Million for you
Hello,
I am Mr. Kennedy Wilson, I work for United Nations-Red-Cross as the admin officer and I want to do this business with you. We came across large sum of money in dollars and Euro to tune of hundred and thirty seven million (US$137M) in the cause of our duties in Syria when the rebels were dislodged by Russian air-raid. This money has been moved out to SPAIN through United Nations means.
I would want you to act as the beneficiary of the so that we can have the money to ourselves. Get back to me soon if you are interested with detail of your information for further detail.
Regards,
Kennedy Wilson
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Anti-fraud resources:
