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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:
- "stay blessed" (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.
- iam_alicewalton@163.com (163; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <iam_alicewalton@163.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2017 16:30:55 -0600
Subject: Proposal
Good Day My Dear
Hope this email find you in good condition, my name is Alice Walton, a citizen of United States of America. I have a profitable proposal for you which I intend to use for CHARITY. I will be very happy to know you, as my instinct directed me to you at this point in time, so do not be afraid. I saw your e-mail contact at the department of commerce and foreign trade. I have been suffering from a Heart disease for the past 6 years and just few weeks ago my Doctor told me that I won't survive the illness. It will be very selfish if I let this opportunity pass-by without investing these funds into the lives of the less privilege and I hope you can assist me to archive this heavenly task for you have nothing to lose but so much to gain. Please reply me back if you are interested, so I can provide you with further details.
Stay Blessed
Email: iam_alicewalton@163.com
Alice Walton.
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Anti-fraud resources:
