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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: Pascal James <amorn_w@kpru.ac.th>
Reply-To: <pascaljames96@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2015 02:37:43 +0000
Subject: GREETINGS
Greetings,
I am Mr. Pascal James, an account manager to Mr J.D Appiah, who passed
away in a car accident in Togo along side his family members.
He left behind an investment bond of about USD 10.7 Million with our
bank here in my country, before his death.
I have in my possession the necessary documents that will aid to claim
the funds as the next of kin to the deceased. I want to enter into a
joint investment with the funds after it has been moved to you.
Send me your sincere thoughts about this mail so that we can get
started with the process.
With regards,
Mr.Pascal James
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https://www.avast.com/antivirus
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Anti-fraud resources:
