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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united states 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)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: Aman Luky <stellajames.lawyer@gmail.com>
Reply-To: amanluky2002@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2016 11:29:33 +0000
Subject: URGENT REPLY
Dear Friend
Please accept my apologies, I do not want to invade your privacy .I am
Barrister Aman Luky i wrote ealier mail to you but no answer.In my
first post i informed you about my late client Gershon ,which bear the
same surname with you.After his death i received several letter from
the bank where he made a deposit of us$14M (fourteen million United
States dollars).before his death.The bank ask me to provide his next
of kin or any of his relative who may make his claim to the
fund,otherwise it will confiscated by the bank because i could not
locate any of his relative hence i contacted you for this claim since
you have the same surname with him.After your reply i shall give you
the details and the procedure of the transaction,waiting to hear from
you.
Yours faithfully,
Barrister.Aman Luky.
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Anti-fraud resources:
