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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "willysanchez@spainmail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "W.Sanchez." (may be fake)
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 05:07:36 -0700
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL.
Contacting you PRIVATELY in regard to an investment of a deceased customer who was an Engineer with an oil company in Libya.He died intestate and all efforts to find a beneficiary to his private investments that I am directly a privy to as the account clerk here in my bank, had failed.
Being directly in charge of the account,I have the responsibility to contact a heir apparent to be presented, since I have made all the necessary contacts to find any of his relatives to no avail. I decided to contact you so we can partner to do this.
All the relevant documents will be processed to back you up on this claim.Please acknowledge receipt of this message in acceptance of our mutual business endeavour by providing me with the following;
1. Your Full Names and Address.2. Direct Telephone and Fax numbers 3.Age & Occupation.
These requirements will enable us file a letter of claim to the appropriate departments for necessary approvals in your favour.
I will be glad to hear from you if we can work together on this. Acknowledge with this email address Urgently for privacy: willysanchez@spainmail.com.
Regards,
Dr. Williams Sanchez.
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Anti-fraud resources: