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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "osman basal" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <osman.sudan@yandex.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2016 04:15:48 +0300
Subject: In Good Faith
Dear Sir.
Greetings to you and your family.am Osman Basal 26 years old citizen of Sudan present I living at the refuge camp In Kenya In East Africa .before the death of my father he deposited $87million dollars with the central bank of Kenya and 130kg Gold please I want you to be my foreign beneficiary to stand and receive my inheritance funds and am willing to give you 50% equal share as you help me to invest the funds in your country for me to continue my education please get back to me so that we can proceed
Regards
Osman Basal
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Anti-fraud resources:
