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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: Irene Zuba <irenezuba@outlook.fr>
Reply-To: Irene Zuba <irenezuba@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2016 17:03:46 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Message/personal
Message/personal
Dear,
I am writing to you seeking your
assistance to retrieve my fund from security company for investment.
Frankly, I need your advice on a matter of great concern.
I have a
fund which was kept in security company but I am not the original
depositor I inherited it from my late parents which by law I am now the
rightful owner as next of kin and I believe that I have come to an age
to process for the transfer of the fund from the security company and
arrange for investment as you and I may desire. I believe your person
has a reputation such as this and I request your intervention to assist
me in the timely resolution of this project.
I feel obliged to
contact you for your assistance and hope for your guidance as to the
content thereof. I would be most grateful for your thoughts and advice
on this most sensitive matter.
I look forward to hearing from you to discuss
this. I thank you for your assistance with this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Miss Irene Zuba
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Anti-fraud resources:
