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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- elizabethnnajohnson@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Anna Elizabeth Johnson <noreply@mail.co.za>
Reply-To: Anna Elizabeth Johnson <elizabethnnajohnson@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2016 18:49:05 +0900 (JST)
Subject: My beloved friend in the Lord, Hope all is well with you and your
family?.
Dearest in Christ,
How are you today together with your family?. l hope you and your family are doing great by the grace of God. If so, glory be to God Almighty. My Beloved Friend in the Lord, sorry if this message come to you as a surprise but l want God to give you the kind heart to read through this email and get back to me. I am Mrs. Elizabeth Anna Johnson an aging widow suffering from long time breast cancer. I am currently admitted in a private hospital here in South Africa.
I Decided to contact you because l have some funds I inherited from my late loving husband Dr. A. Johnson who worked in the Mining sector here in South Africa for thirty Five (35) years before his untimely death. l inherited the sum of USD$5,600.000:00 which he deposited in one of the prominent bank here in South Africa and I need a very honest and God fearing person that can use these funds for God's work by doing charity so that the world of God will be fulfilled in my life.
l have decided to give 40% out of the total funds for your compensation for doing this work of God and the remaining 60% l want you to use for charity and helping the poor and needy around the globe. I found your email address from the internet and decided to contact you.
Please if you would be able to use these funds for the Lord's work kindly reply me as soon as possible.
PLEASE REPLY AT MY PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS (elizabethnnajohnson@hotmail.com)
Your Sister in the Lord.
Mrs. Elizabeth Anna Johnson
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