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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: "thomas.ka" <thomas.ka@slingshot.co.nz>
Reply-To: thmshhuling@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 09 Dec 2016 14:00:58 -0500
Subject: Confidential and Urgent
Hello
Firstly let me apologize for invading your privacy in this manner, but i
will want you to understand that it is as a result of the urgency and
importance of my proposal for a business deal of £14.7 Million worth
laying fallow in my bank branch that i will want you to claim as a next
of kin to the deceased depositor who coincidentally shares a common last
name with you.
I will furnish you with further information on how you can go about this
claims when you get back to me.
Thanks for your understanding
Thomas Huling
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Anti-fraud resources:
