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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: "Jean Perrier" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jeanperrier0016@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2016 23:27:20 -0800
Subject: Important notice!!!
Hello,
My Name is Jean Perrier; I am a top American diplomat working under the United Nations. I am newly assigned to head the diplomatic Sector of the United Nations Regional Head Quarters here in West Africa. Is my pleasure to talk to you today.
This is to officially notify you that part of your Inheritance fund ($7.5MUSD) which is due for payment over a period of time now has finally been cleared for immediate delivery. Your fund and all others were released and endorsed for immediate delivery after the just concluded United Nations summit held in Geneva, Switzerland.
The United Nations (UN) in agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and all financial sectors involved resolved to release this fund to you which is in line with the on going International face mending exercise of 2016. You are hereby advised to respond to this notice as soon as possible for details.
I will be waiting to hear from you..
Thanks,
Jean Perrier
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Anti-fraud resources:
