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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:
- "please indicate your willingness" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: " Duncan Williams" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <williams_duncan@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2017 04:16:40 +0200
Subject: Your Consent
I have mailed a hard copy letter to your address and it return
undelivered after my intensive search I decided to contact you via your email because
you share same surname with my late client, who died leaving behind US$17.5M.
I want to seek your consent and present you as the heir to his estate as the only surviving
relative known to me to enable us make claim to the said funds.
Please Indicate your willingness if you are ready to embark on this transaction with me with your full name,
address, age, marital status and fax/telephone so that I can call you for details on how we proceed.
This is confidential and we must protect our integrity in this business.
Best Regards
Duncan Williams
Halifax bank, London UK
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Anti-fraud resources:
